


Just like a circus

by alexis_bleu



Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Acrobatics, Alternate Universe, Circus! theme, Circus!AU, F/F, M/M, Male Slash, Multi, NaruSasu - Freeform, Not for minors, POV, POV First Person, SasuNaru - Freeform, SasuNaruSasu - Freeform, Yaoi, ocassional InoSaku, there will be smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 19:22:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 43,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13278228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alexis_bleu/pseuds/alexis_bleu
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, 24 years old, works as an acrobat at Hidden Leaf Circus. Even though it's hard work, he loves his job and the cast members that have become like family to him.During the rehearsal of a duo acrobatics act for an upcoming show, his partner Gaara injures himself and is unable to perform in the new show.A new member joins Hidden Leaf,a former cast member from Orochimaru's Cirque Du Freak to act as Gaara's replacement. How will Naruto get along with his new acrobatics partner?*Multi-chapter to be updated weekly or bi-weekly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! It's the first time in 10 years that I write for this fandom and the first time that I do it in English ( I hope I make sense).  
> I got the help of two awesome girls who were my Betas in this first chapter, so my big thanks to ultrasanaposts (she also gave me the idea for the title) & psychonighmare. Go follow them on Tumblr! They share awesome content.!
> 
> Now, even though I have started to train in contortion and aerials, I'm still a newbie and I don't work on a circus so the circus life style is mostly an speculation and what I've gathered from watching circus' backstage vids, so there might be some innacuracy. But hey, this is for fun.
> 
> If you have any trouble picturing the acrobatic figures I describe,the website thecircusdictionary(dot)com is super helpful.You can find them all there in their different categories :)
> 
> Anyway,I hope you enjoy this story. Oh, and you can find me on Tumblr as ixtab-loves-me.

NARUTO POV

Since the moment I opened my eyes and the sun blinded me, I realized this was going to be a bad day. I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my temples while stretching my legs in front of me, doing circular motions with my ankles. 

I shouldn’t have partied when I knew I had a new stage show coming up but still, I always seem to forget that after the third shot of tequila. I looked at my phone on the bedside table to check the time. It was 8:48 on a Sunday morning.Hopefully, I’m not going to piss off too many people today .

I stretched my arms next, feeling the soreness of my overworked muscles. Kakashi had been very hard on Gaara and me these past few weeks. The soreness, however, doesn’t bother me, it’s usually part of my everyday life. 

After flexing my neck muscles and hearing them crack, I headed to the shower. 

Pain, muscle soreness and physical exhaustion are a big part of all of our lives actually. This community is like a big family. We are all circus artists in the Hidden Leaf Circus.

As one of the top worldwide known circus shows, just being here is a huge accomplishment. Just the best of the best make it past the auditions to the six weeks of training that follow.

I have been an official member of the cast of Hidden Leaf for the last seven years so basically I grew up here.

You see, my parents were circus performers before I was born,they met while doing duo acrobatics, performing as amateurs on the streets, and feel in love shortly afterwards.

That’s when they met Jiraiya, the artistic director and founder of this circus (as well as my godfather, go figure). They were part of the original cast and became legends because of the chemistry they had and the passion they put in their performances. They filled up all the circus benches.

Most of the current cast members have been here since they were kids, even if not performing as main acrobats. Training behind the scenes to follow their parents footsteps, these cast members were sons and daughters of the previous ones and most of them I’ve known my whole life.

Since I can remember I’ve been training everyday for hours and hours with my parents to become an acrobat. And it’s not that they imposed their dreams on me or anything like that. I genuinely loved it. By age 5 I could already do a perfect handstand, and with the help of my dad and mom as partners, by age 7 I already did most figures to perfection. I’ve always wanted to follow their footsteps, but I like to think that my reason for being here was not just because my parents were great acrobats. I worked really hard to earn my place,if anything, I’ve worked harder to show everybody that I deserve to be on this stage.  
Being agile and flexible as a child is very easy. Increasing your physical strength and agility as you grow older while maintaining flexibility is the real work. It’s very easy to lose flexibility if you work out a lot with weights but don’t stretch properly for at least an hour everyday. Especially if you are a guy because it’s easier to get muscle and become too bulky and get all stiff and then your figures all look like shit.  
I don’t only do floor acrobatics but also aerial, trapeze being my favorite. I have done hoop, straps and silks but they are not my speciality. Although part of being in the circus is that I get to try everything and try to learn something different for new shows, my favorite part of being here is that I never stop learning. I always get to experiment freely when I have time off from preparing a new show.

After the hot water of the shower hit me, I felt like a new person. That’s the best thing about myself. I quickly recover from everything. Call it injuries, hangovers or heartbreak.

Not like circus life lets out a lot of time for romance;performing and traveling with the circus is the biggest cockblock ever.  
In the past seven years that I have been traveling with Hidden Leaf, I have seen my parents twice (they have been retired for a while now and stopped traveling with us ever since) and been in like thirty different cities.

After I got out of the shower I threw a tank top on and my favorite training pants (the ones that keep my muscles warm but not enough to make me sweat like a pig and get dehydrated during training). I took a look at my face in the mirror, searching for any traces of a drinking night out, finding none.  
Good.

Naruto Uzumaki, 24 years old. Today might not start out be as a bad as I thought.  
\------------------------

When I headed out of my trailer, I saw Kiba and Akamaru walking by. Although our circus is cruelty free and consist mostly of a human cast, Kiba has the only act where a dog is allowed to perform. No cruelty involved in the training of Akamaru. If anything, he’s the most spoiled cast member. Kiba has had Akamaru since he was a puppy and eventually convinced Jiraiya to let him into the show.

“What’s up,dude?” I called him. Akamaru barked and wiggled its tail. Kiba looked back at me. He looked kinda beaten up.

“Hey, bro” he replied. “Getting a late start today,huh?” 

“Hey, it’s not so late yet” I pointed out. “Dude, you need to control your drinking next time. You look like a truck ran over you”.

“Fuck off! I’m never getting into a drinking contest with you again. I don’t know how you can look as fucking radiant as you do after drinking like that. Never going to let you convince me to go out before a new show. Man, this sucks. Jiraiya will have your ass in the cast meeting later”

“Chill out, bro. Besides, it was Sakura’s idea. She wouldn’t stop complaining that we never celebrated her birthday properly, so I thought we would just go along. Besides, it’s not always that Jiraiya decides Las Vegas is a good place to settle while preparing a new show.” that was true.  
Usually, we go to the most boring cities to prepare for new shows before going to the place where we’ll make the official debut. He knows it’s tough shit to deal with a bunch of feisty young adults that never really had normal teenage lives, we were already either performing or training our asses off to perform, so it’s better to avoid any distractions.

“Tsk….whatever. Gotta walk Akamaru now before the meeting. See you later”

I waved him goodbye and then headed to the training room. I got to look for Gaara, my performing partner. We were working in a new acrobalance duo act and I felt there’s still a long way to perfect it. He’s an awesome acrobat,though. He’s been in the circus forever, as well as his brother Kankuro, who is one of the guys in charge of one of the comedy acts ( he’s actually a clown and does a puppet show, with big puppets, no kinder garden bullshit) and his sister Temari, who has a juggling act with fans.

Our show usually consists in 5 different types of acts: floor acrobatics, juggling, aerial acrobatics, contortion, comedy (gives the performers and the technicians some more time to prepare the stage while keeping the audience entertained, pretty much) and Kiba’s and Akamaru’s act.

As I walk into the training room, the first person I see is Sakura, already warmed up,on the floor doing a basic chest stand position, holding her feet next to her head. In the background I see Hinata wrapped up in the silks being watched by Kurenai, the aerialists coach. On the other side, I see Rock Lee and Neji ,Hinata’s cousin, practicing their hand balancing act with their coach, Gai.

“Girl, do you ever eat or sleep?” I teased Sakura.

“Yes, I had breakfast 3 hours ago. And no, not all of us can oversleep and still perform to perfection at opening night.” she says. “Oh, and I also never get hangover” she added with a smile.

“You will be amazing as always” I told her. Sakura is one of my closest friends of all the cast members and also, one of the newest people to join the cast. She joined Hidden Leaf Circus only three years ago and is always very hard on herself since her parents didn’t work in the circus like the others.

“I don’t know. I have been feeling like the act is not synchronized yet.” she added while wrapping her arms behind her ribcage and spreading her legs into a split. “I think it’s TenTen.She looks kind of...rigid lately. Don’t you think?”

“Scandal!” I said with faked surprise. Sakura is in the contortion act with two other girls, Ino and Tenten. Both of them come from families with circus backgrounds.

“Shut up! Don’t you have anything to do today?” she asked, rolling her eyes with faked annoyment.

“Actually I was looking for Gaara. Have you seen him?”

“I think he’s at the Cafeteria. I saw him going in and sit with his weird brother and his bitch sister when I was leaving” she said while changing her position again to the chest stand and then bringing her pelvis forward until her knees touch the floor,into a triple fold. Ouch. Most of us in the circus are flexible but not as flexible as the contortionists.

Yeah, the Sabaku siblings aren’t really that well liked but they aren’t bad people,I swear. Gaara just has a poker face, Kankuro might be a bit strange and Temari...well, she’s kind of a bitch. She sometimes makes comments that come across as way too harsh. And I think she’s having an affair with one of the tech guys, Shikamaru (but the rumors haven’t been corroborated yet). But one thing that all the Sabaku siblings have in common is that they are reliable people. They’ll always give their best, and give the public excellent shows.

“Your triple fold is looking better, Sakura.More fluid. You really have made progress this past month” I complimented her because I know she deserves it and because she works hard.

She slowly returned to her original chest stand position, and smiled at me. “Thank you for skipping the rules and going out with me to celebrate my belated birthday yesterday, Naruto. I will remember that when Jiraiya kicks your ass in front of everybody at the cast meeting” she said and then laughed.

“Seriously, like I am the only one to blame! Doublecrosser!” I let out a laugh.” Anyway, I’m starving and I need to talk to Gaara. See you later, Sakura.” I said and as I was heading to the door, I heard Sakura speak again.

“Hey Naruto?” she called and when I turn around, she said “Don’t tell TenTen what I said about her”

I nodded and waved her goodbye as I headed out to the cafeteria. And no, it isn’t just any cafeteria. The cast of the Hidden Leaf Circus leads a special diet. Most of us eat the foods that our bodies need depending on the type of training we do. It’s not that we aren’t allowed to eat whatever we want now and then, but this kind of physical training requires a special diet, with a good balance between carbohydrates and protein, and we need to watch our weight. The kitchen is always working even when we are training or on stage and always serves a big variety of meals for all of the cast different tastes.

When I got there I spotted Gaara getting up from the table along with his siblings, carrying his empty plates on the tray in his hands. 

“Gaara, my man!” I said as I walked up to him.” Hey Temari, Kankuro. What’s up?” Gaara’s siblings only nodded towards my direction and turned to leave. 

“You slept in.” Gaara stated, without an ounce of reclaim in his voice. That’s Gaara for you,folks. No expression in his face nor in his voice, ever.

“Yeah…” I answered, scratching my head “ But it was cool, man. Going out now and then is not so bad, you know? You should come with us sometime.”

“I don’t think your friends like me a lot,” he stated, again without showing any emotions.

“They just don’t know you, buddy. I think they find your lack of expression kind of threatening or something.” If I am sincere, Gaara can be kind of intimidating but when you get to know him you realize that he’s one of the most reliable guys you could ever meet. I don’t know if I am just too naive when it comes to people. I’m very social and easy going. I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody that I disliked, really. 

“Mmmm” Gaara murmured. “I was thinking on heading to the training room after the cast meeting. You should eat something now. It’s already kind of late”

I shrugged “yeah, I’ll eat a light breakfast and meet you there.”

After Gaara said goodbye and left, I walked towards the buffet trays to check what was available. I was actually starving.  
\---------------

The cast meetings always take place in Jiraiya’s office (it’s really a tent). When I got there I saw all of the cast members sat down on the floor in front of the projector. These meetings are usually done so we all watch our training session videos and discuss our progress (or lack thereof). A “little bit of constructive criticism” as Kakashi says. Kakashi is Gaara’s and my coach. He has a weird friendship/rivalry with Guy, Rock Lee’s and Neji’s coach. Although we all get along pretty well, we do have our little groups of friends,the people that we hang out with more often. I am closest to Sakura, Kiba and of course,Gaara, since we spend a lot of time together during rehearsals. 

After I sat down next to Gaara, I saw Jiraiya get in the room and occupy his own seat, which is at a table that he usually uses as a desk for his everyday work. He’s an old pervert, I was once snooping around in his office and found a porn magazine underneath a stack of papers. Rumors say that he used to write porn before he founded the Hidden Leaf Circus. Other rumors say he still does it. Anyhow, I still see him as family. He’s my godfather after all.  
The new show is going to include the following acts:

Aerial silks duo by Hinata Hyuuga and Shino Aburame. Their coach is Kurenai, who also coaches all of the other aerial acrobatics (although for this new show their act will be the only aerial act)  
Contortion trio by Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka and TenTen. Their coach and choreographer is Mitarashi Anko.  
Kiba’s and Akamaru’s act. No coach. They do their own thing. I wouldn’t even call it acrobatics but the public loves it and it also gives us more time to prepare the stage for more complicated acts.  
Hand balancing on canes by Rock Lee and Neji Hyuuga. Their coach is Gai.  
Comedy acts, by Chouji Akimichi and Kankuro.  
Fan juggling by Temari (it is more exciting as it sounds, I swear).  
Acrobalance duo by Gaara and I.Our coach is Kakashi. He’s cool but he’s lazy, usually arriving late to our training sessions.

Other members of the team that I’m close to that travel with us all the time but aren’t performers are Shikamaru Nara, the head guy of the technicians; that means he’s the one in charge of the stage, the installation and all the necessary mechanisms to make it work. He’s brilliant but he is also lazy as fuck. I heard he has in IQ of 200 and I assume it must be true because all of the things he designs (usually moving platforms but also different mechanisms for the aerial acts) work to perfection. Sai (what’s this guy’s last name anyway?) does costume design and makeup design, he’s one of those artsy guys; Tsunade Senju, who’s the cast’s physiotherapist and Shizune, her apprentice. Tsunade is also the Old Pervert’s love interest. There are more people travelling with us, musicians (all of our shows have live singers) and other technicians that help with the installation, the lights and all that.

After everybody has sit down, the Old Pervert cleared his throat and started speaking,finally.

“All right. Now that I have everybody’s attention. As you already know, our new stage show is due in a month and a half. We have been working in the creation and staging of this new show for more than four months now and most of you are doing a great job and working really hard. As the time for the opening is getting closer, I need you to work extra-hard in your acts and aspire to perfection. The Hidden Leaf circus has always characterized for being an amazing show and we need to keep it that way. I look forward to see all of your progress in today’s review.”  
These video reviews are usually a bitchfest, nonetheless.

Shikamaru, who was behind his MacBook in charge of the projections during the cast meetings, played the first video, which is Hinata’s and Shino’s act. We usually do all of our video recordings the day before the meeting, so Jiraiya and the other can see our progress.  
Both Shino and Hinata got positive feedback from Jiraiya and the others, much to the satisfaction of Kurenai.  
The next video was the contortion trio. Even though in the first minute or two, the three girls seemed to do their choreography perfectly, I started to notice how the act seems weirdly out of sync with the music. I could see what Sakura mentioned earlier. It was TenTen.  
After the video ended, everybody was quiet, which has never been good sign.  
The silence was broken by a female voice, that I immediately recognized as Temari’s.

“TenTen, you’re slacking off” she stated, sharply.

“Fuck you, you bitch.” TenTen responded,clearly offended. This is the problem with Temari. Even though she was right in pointing out that TenTen needs to work harder, she just never knows how to word her thoughts in a way that doesn’t come across as fucking rude. “A fucking monkey could do a juggling act like yours. Doesn’t take much brains”.

Uh-oh. This is it. Tenten reached her limit and snapped. This only gets worse the closer to the opening night we get. She’s not the only one who has got terribly mad and lost her temper in one of these meetings before. The pressure to be perfect is too high and it gets to us after a while. I exchanged looks with Sakura, she looked worried. Anko was pinching the bridge of her nose, eyes closed, shaking her head lightly. Temari voiced Sakura’s own thoughts about TenTen’s performance with a bluntness that Sakura herself wouldn’t be capable of. She is critical but always has other people’s feelings in mind.

“It requires concentration, something that you don’t seem to be able to achieve in order to make your choreography in sync with the others.” Temari responded..

“Girls, please” Jiraiya intervened then looked at TenTen, addressing her but not Temari.” You need to work extra hard this week. I expect to see you doing better for the next video review. I don’t doubt your abilities and you shouldn’t either. There’s a reason why you are here. If you think the pressure is too much, you might want to speak to Shizune.”

Although Shizune is not really a therapist, she kind of has assumed the role of one. Most of us go to her when we need to talk and one to hear honest and unbiased advice.

“I’ll do my best. I’m going to work harder this week,I promise” TenTen replied.

“I don’t doubt that” the old Pervert added. And then nodded to Shikamaru to continue with the next.  
Kiba’s and Akamaru’s act was next, followed by Neji’s and Rock Lee’s handbalancing on canes act. Everybody had positive feedback for them. I was actually so nervous about the screening of my own act that I didn’t even pay much attention to the others. I have started biting my nails at this point. I don’t deal well with anticipation,especially when I know we haven’t been doing well. And after the escapade of last night….They were right. The Old Pervert will kick my ass in front of everybody.  
The thing is….even though we have fun at the job and training, since we have been doing this out whole lives, we didn’t never really get to have a normal childhood and adolescence. Since we traveled with the circus, we didn’t get to stay in places for long and made friends outside of the other cast members and people who traveled with us. I knew we are all under contracts and that this is our job but still, it feels nice to go wild now and then. It’s not like we did it everyday, anyway.  
Gaara tapped me on the shoulder and got me out of my cavillations. Our act was next on the projection.  
Everybody was quiet, which means they weren’t impressed. This is going to suck. Sakura sets me an encouraging look, but I can tell by her face that she thought the act sucked.  
Jiraiya released a deep sigh, and shook his head. Gaara and I exchanged looks. We both knew that this wasn’t going to go well.  
After the projection was over, everybody was silent for a moment. After the pregnant pause,Jiraiya broke the silence.

“Guys...what the fuck was that?” He asked, controlled but obviously angry.”Seriously, what the fuck did I just watch? We are a month and a half away from opening night! Most of the fucking tickets are sold out! People didn’t pay to watch shit like this!” He lost his temper and he yelled.” The first minutes of the act are good but the rest are just dreadful. People come here to be impressed, not to get bored out of their minds”.

I was speechless. I knew it wasn’t great but I never thought it would be boring.

“I’m very sorry for this,sir” Gaara said. “I have no excuse for the bad results of my training. I will work harder from now on”

“And you Naruto? Do you have anything to say for yourself? Can you explain to me why you have been working towards creating an act that is lame and boring? That lacks passion? Or are you too busy sneaking out and partying all night instead of actually training?”

I actually felt very attacked by that statement. Nothing that I do in life lacks passion. But maybe he’s right. My concentration levels haven’t been the best. Maybe I need to get laid or something.

“I don’t party that often,old man. We deserve to have fun sometimes. We all work our asses off for this show” I replied. 

“Just don’t forget you are under contract. And it doesn’t matter who your parents are, and I say this not only for you but for the rest of the cast as well, this is not a place for people who slack off. You are here to work hard and to deliver a great show to the public. The fact that your parents were excellent acrobats doesn’t guarantee you will have a place in the Hidden Leaf Circus. Whoever is slacking off, will be let go.” Everybody in the room tensed. The environment felt heavy, with worry. “And by the way, I know you weren’t the only one sneaking out last night to party. But so far, from all of them (and you know who you are), you Naruto,are the only one who showed me a half assed act”.

All right, I feel like shit right now.

“Kakashi, the second half of that act needs a new choreography. Make sure you have something for next week's review. We can’t present this to the public.”  
Kakashi just nodded.  
The Old Pervert closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. “You are free to go to your training sessions now. See you next week”. He dismissed us but I didn’t want to leave before having a word with him.

“See you in the training room in a moment?” Gaara asked me. I nodded. My answer was obvious. It’s not like I would miss any rehearsals anyway. 

After everybody left, I walked up to Jiraiya. I felt the need to apologize for my bad performance but nothing else. I didn’t even think that going out now and then was what affected my training.I didn’t even know what it was, to be honest. 

“ Alright,” I spoke up “I’m sorry,OK? I don’t know what happened with me. I promise I will work harder this week.” I added and I meant it. 

“You know I love Minato and Kushina very much, and I respect them as the good acrobats they are and everything that they brought to this company.” he said, serious but in a softer tone than earlier. “I know they didn’t raise a slacker. You’ve never failed me or the Hidden Leaf and I know this won’t be the first time. You know I am here if you need to talk to somebody. Or you can go to Tsunade, if you need.”

“I know” I said. Even though Tsunade isn’t a therapist either,both her and Shizune are always available to listen to us vent, specially the closer an opening day is. Not all of us know how to cope with stress. “I promise is nothing. I will work harder and do better on the next review. “

“I know you will” he smiled at me. I walked up to the door but before leaving,I felt the need to speak a few more words.

“You know this means the life to me and I love what I do. I would never do anything that would affect Hidden Leaf or any member of the team.”

He just nodded and said “ See you next week”.

\-------------

I headed out to the training room to meet Gaara. I found him warming up when I got there, stretching on the floor.

“Hey, man” I said, sitting down next to him and starting my warm up

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Let’s just say that I have to work extra hard this week”

“You and me both”  
Kakashi arrived after 15 minutes. When we started discussing the changes in the choreography and I started picturing everything in my head,I became very excited. It’s this familiar feeling, like the adrenaline rush that I always feel whenever I’m dancing, hand standing or up in the air. It’s when I’m performing that I feel the most alive. Suddenly,I felt my spirits go up. We can do this.

“I think we should also add some tosses in the second part of the act instead of the laying down figures . I analyzed this through the night. The positions would stay the same. Naruto will be the flyer in the second part of the act.” Kakashi said.

“It would be more challenging and to the public, it will look riskier” I added, feeling excited.

“I’m up for that.” Gaara said. “I don’t know why we didn’t think of that before”

“Great. Then we can start now” Kakashi added.

The first part of the choreography included both me and Gaara doing backwards walkovers from opposite sides and into the stage, then when we meet in the middle we execute some dance moves and then proceed with the figures, which involved adagio (partner lifts and tosses) and partner acrobalance. For that kind of duo acrobatics, Gaara and I switched to be the base and the flyer. In the first part of the act,I acted as the base. 

The first figure was a shoulder stand on feet, where I laid down on the floor with my legs and arms up, and Gaara needed to take impulse, tuck then lift his hips while supporting himself in my hands and then position his shoulders on my feet. It requires concentration but this is quite an easy figure. Most of the first figures are very basic. 

The second figure is called “candlestick”, in where I laid down with my legs bent and slightly separated,my arms are extended and firm so Gaara could position his shoulders in my hands and his hands on my knees and he can lift his hips up until his body forms a straight line (like a candle,hence the name). 

The third figure is called “front angel laying down” in which again, I laid down on the floor, bent my legs slightly and extended my arms to take Gaars hands, while he positioned his abdomen in the soles of my feet and took impulse. I then pulled him up and released his hands so that way he’s in the air and opened his arms wide to the side while I fully supported him with my legs. In between all of the figures we executed a dance choreography to add a little more aesthetic, artistic effect to the act.

Then, as we discussed with Kakashi, we are going to change the second part to add three new figures. The first of the new figures is going to be counter balance standing on thighs and in all of these ones, Gaara will act as a base and I will be one to be lifted up.

 

For the first figure, Gaara stood with his legs bent (almost as in an “I’m about to sit down” position) and we will held each other by the forearms as I climbed on top of his knees. Then he brought his knees together for a moment to give me chance to turn to the side and lift one of my legs up to set my foot on his shoulder, then we let go of each others arms and he placed his hand on the same thigh I put on his shoulder, gripping it near the hip, then he spread his free arm at the same time I spread mine. We executed this figure to perfection, much to Kakashi’s delight.. I felt exhilarated.

The next one required more concentration since its level of difficulty is higher. It’s a reverse handstand. This figure requires a lot of stability from both parts.So we took our positions. Gaara stood with his legs slightly spread, we put our arms fully stretched in front of the other and grabbed each other’s hands and I took impulse and I am lifted in the air for a moment where I have to pull my hips up and spread them while Gaara held me and stretched his arms as I slowly bring my legs together. That way I was doing a handstand while being in the air and being held by Gaara.

“ That looks like shit, guys. You both look stiff like corpses.” Kakashi pointed out. “The synchronization is good but I need to see more fluid movements. Make it look more natural. We won’t move to the next figure until you both make this one to perfection. C’mon, get back down now.”

Well, that is why we practice.I brought my knees to my chest, and slowly went back down to the floor. Gaara was breathing heavily, and I saw him stretch his arms a little bit before our second try. I should have probably done the same, but I felt fantastic. I wasn’t not even feeling sore. Must be the adrenaline.

When we were both ready, we tried again. I took impulse, lifted my hips into the air and into a middle split, but when I had just started to bring my legs together, I felt Gaara falter and in a second, I knew I was going to fall. My alertness went to the roof and before I noticed my ass was hitting the floor.

“Shit!” I groaned but then I took in Gaara holding his ankle and the expression of severe pain in his face. I ran to him and Kakashi did the same.

“Fuck, Gaara, are you OK?” I asked him in panic. He didn’t even respond. His face twisted in an ugly grimace.

“Go call Tsunade! Bring her in here! Now!” Kakashi yelled. And I did, in a second, I got up to run and find Tsunade. The last thing I heard before running out of the training room, was Gaara apologizing for fucking everything up.  
\-------  
When you are an acrobat, every performance could be your last. You need to do your best, put everything into the act because you never know if that will be the last time that you will ever step on a stage. Accidents happen. Injuries aren’t uncommon in our jobs. Some injuries heal quickly and some leave you incapacitated to do acrobatics for the rest of your life.

“ He won’t be able to perform in the show.”Tsunade told us, serious. “We need to take him to the hospital. Now.”

Jiraiya and Kakashi were both in the room. Jiraiya nodded, pulled his phone out and goes outside.  
I felt devastated. I looked at Gaara and I saw in his expressions that he already knew it. Now he’s only waiting to know if this will be the end of his career or not. This fucking sucks. He didn’t deserve this after all the hard work he put into this circus.

“ You will be OK, buddy.” I said reassuringly, kneeling next to him. I wished I could actually promise him that, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“ We don’t know that.” he replied, looking down. “I’m sorry for ruining the act.”

“No, don’t worry about that. You need to concentrate in getting better.We’ll figure something out for the act. Don’t worry.” I said, but I honestly didn’t know what was going to happen. We are way too close to the opening day.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to see Granny Tsunade, her expression serious but I could see some worry in her eyes. She always goes into “serious doctor mode” when she’s working on a patient.

“I think you should let Jiraiya and I take care of this” she says. I looked back at Gaara. He nodded, as if giving me permission to leave.

“See you soon,buddy” I said.

Both Kakashi and I went outside. Jiraiya had just finished up a phone call when we met him there.

“What’s going to happen to the act now?” I asked him.

“I guess we will have to cast somebody else to take over Gaara’s part” the Old Pervert replied.

“That’s insane!” I exclaimed. “We are a month and a half away from opening night! That’s impossible!” I felt myself panic a little bit, but tried to keep calm.

“I agree with him” Kakashi added.” It’s too much of a rush. It would be unfair to ask somebody else from the other cast members to take Gaara’s place but casting a new member from the outside is crazy. Everybody here already have their time consumed working in their own acts, I can’t imagine they would be up to learning a new choreography, not when we are so close to the opening date”

“Listen, both of you” the Old Pervert said. “First of all, I need to prioritize that Gaara receives special medical attention as soon as possible but we will speak about this when we get back from the hospital. I’ll make some calls.You guys go back to do whatever you need to do. Take the day off from training.”

“Naruto, we should go” Kakashi told me. “ We’ll talk later” he said to Jiraiya and he responded with a nod.

I walked back to my room to try to relax but I couldn’t. When I got there, I walked up to my nightstand to check my phone and saw I had 2 missed calls from my mother. I didn’t feel like talking to my parents .It was already 4:30 pm. I felt so sad that I thought I was going to cry. I decided to take a hot shower. My lower back hurt from the fall but I know that it’s nothing that won’t take a night or two to stop hurting, unlike what happened to Gaara. 

I couldn’t begin to imagine how he must feel, knowing his career might be over. He’s been here his whole life.

I ran the shower, waiting for it to warm up,I undressed slowly and went in when the water was hot enough. My muscles started to relax but the pain in my back was still there. I might have to pay Shizune a visit later. Maybe she can put some kinesiotape on my back to give me extra support for this next week. Although I still feel uncertain that I’m going to be able to perform at the opening show at all. I don’t think we have enough time to work in a solo act.

“Fuck!” I yelled in frustration. I hoped nobody would hear me. I need to get my shit together. I was at my limit. I have been feeling odd for a while but I need to snap out of it and be there for my friend, he needs me now. I took a deep breath, and exhaled. I repeated this for a few times and started to feel a little bit better.  
I didn’t know how much time passed before I got out of the shower and dried myself with a towel. I headed out of the bathroom to pick up some clothes from my drawer and took a pair of boxers and pants. Then I found a t-shirt and a hoodie. I dressed and put my shoes on and decided to go to the cafeteria and get something to eat. I took my phone before leaving the room. I might check my Facebook while I’m there.  
I walked to the cafeteria and noticed is actually crowded. Most of the cast members were there. I saw Neji, Hinata and Lee sitting in one table. Kiba and Shino at the other, and also Anko and Kurenai. I saw Sakura sitting alone at a table and when she looked my way,I waved at her.

“Hey Naruto” she called me. “Come sit here”

I nodded but walked to the food trays to pick something up first. There’s a lot, as usual. I swear, those trays are never empty. It must be exhausting working in that cafeteria, feeding famished acrobats all day.  
I picked up some chicken breast, some salad and a piece of bread. Gotta watch the carbs, even though I wouldn’t mind eating a whole pizza right now. I chose plain water to drink, taking a water bottle from the cooler (I hate lukewarm water, even during winter).  
I walked back to the table where Sakura was sitting down and sat in front of her.

“I heard about Gaara” she said “I ran into Kakashi and he told me...I’m so sorry, Naruto. You think he’ll be okay?”

“ We don’t know yet. The Old Pervert and granny Tsunade took him to the hospital. She knew she couldn’t fix it here” I replied with a sigh. I opened my water bottle and took a swig.

“What do you think will happen to your act?” she asked, taking a piece of fruit from her bowl and putting it in her mouth.

“The Old Pervert said he’s going to cast somebody else” I shrugged. I didn’t think it would be possible, the situation felt like a lost cause.

“NO WAY!” She exclaimed, raising her voice in surprise and feeling self conscious when everybody suddenly stopped speaking and turned their heads to our table. She lowered her voice down again “ That’s insane”

“I know” I replied, cutting up a piece of chicken breast and bringing it to my mouth.

We ate in silence for a moment when I noticed Ino’s shag of long,light blond hair walking towards us. I didn’t even notice her walking into the cafeteria.

“Hey, guys,” Ino said after putting her hand on Sakura’s shoulder. Sakura startled at her touch. “Sorry, did I scare you?”

“No...I just didn’t notice you were behind me” she replied, blushing deeply. Something’s going on there. I raised an eyebrow at Sakura. Ino didn’t even ask if she could sit with us, she just did, putting an apple and a small carton of milk in front of her.

“So what are you guys up to?” Ino asked, after taking a bite of her apple.

“Gaara got injured today during rehearsal” I said.

“Oh shit! Is he going to be okay?” Ino asked, the look in her blues eyes showing worry.

“We don’t know yet” I said. “He’s at the hospital now”

“Oh, no. It was that bad?” She asked. I just nodded.”I’m sorry to hear that. I hope we can visit him soon”

“They should be back later. We still don’t know what we are going to do with the act.”

“That sucks, Naruto. I hope his injury can heal. Remember when Lee got that injury on his leg? It took a while but look at him now. He’s good as new”

“I hope so” I added, feeling suddenly down again.“Hey,what happened to TenTen after the review? She seemed upset” I asked, trying to change the subject and because I was actually curious about it.

“Upset is an understatement” Sakura said. ”After we left, she broke down in tears on the way to our rooms. We were all there. It took Anko a while to calm her down and she ordered her to take the rest of the day off and to see her early tomorrow. It was surreal. She hasn’t come out of her room since”

“The pressure gets to all of us” Ino added,and I nodded in agreement. “But she will need to work harder, all of us need to. Every mistake or miscalculation in our part and it ruins the hard work of all of the cast as well as ruining the public’s experience of coming to the circus. I sometimes feel so anxious about making mistakes that I can’t sleep”

“ You shouldn’t worry that much,Ino” Sakura said. “You always look amazing on stage. All of your movements are so elegant...It wouldn’t surprise me at all that you were to get a solo act in the future.” Do I smell a bit of a girl crush here?

“ You really think so?”Ino asked, cheerful “I don’t know. I mean, you are the fittest and strongest of us three.” 

“I don’t know about that” Sakura added, looking down at her now empty fruit bowl.

“Haven’t you looked in a mirror? You have the best body” Ino told her with a smile and Sakura blushed. That’s the best compliment an acrobat could get. “Don’t worry too much about your upcoming performance. We’ll all be amazing.”

“It just sucks that we are encountering with these difficulties now. Specially when Orochimaru’s Cirque du Freak just arrived to Las Vegas” Sakura said.

“No fucking way. Seriously?” I asked her, incredulously. Orochimaru’s Cirque du Freak and Hidden Leaf have competed to be the number one for years. We aren’t usually touring in the same city but them being here at the same time as us presenting a new show is not cool. People love them. They have a different approach to circus, making everything more tetric and out of a horror movie but Orochimaru’s performers are good and their concept is solid. The owner is even an old acquaintance of the Old Pervert and Granny Tsunade. But now, you can say they’re rivals.

“Yeah. I heard a rumor from Shikamaru earlier and then checked their official Instagram like an hour ago. It’s happening” Sakura replied.

“Such a shady move from Orochimaru’s part” Ino added, while chewing another bite of her apple. “Jiraiya should go kick his ass.I thought they had an agreement or something. To not tour at the same city at the same time”

“That kind of agreement doesn’t matter when money is involved.” I said. I guess his ambition became more important than old friends.

“Well, that’s fucked up” Ino said.” Anyway, I think I should get going. I was planning on Skyping with my dad and it’s already late there.See you tomorrow, Sakura?” the blonde stood up and tousled Sakura’s pink hair a bit.

“ Yes...See you tomorrow” They smiled at each other.

“Keep me updated on Gaara, please?” she asked me this time. I nodded and then she left.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?” Sakura asked me.

“ I was thinking on maybe going to Shizune later. My back hurts a bit...because of the fall. Gaara and I were doing reverse handstand when he injured himself and I was the flyer”

“ Why didn’t you get that checked out earlier? You can’t brush off that kind of pain just like that! You know that it could get worse!”

“I was more concerned about Gaara, really” I said,shrugging it off.

“You are a good friend, Naruto” she told me. “The best friend one could ever ask for”

I smiled at her but didn’t let the opportunity to tease her slip by. “ Talking about good friends...How close are you and Ino?”

She looked like a deer caught by the headlights for a moment. “ I don’t know what you’re talking about” she said trying to play dumb but the redness of her face gave her away.

“You know, she’s kind of a hottie.” I said. “ I totally understand why you would have a crush on her”

“I DO NOT!” she replied, raising her voice again, and everybody stared at us again.

I chuckled. “You girls are together all day and practically on top of the other” I said to tease her further. Close to the ending of their act, they make kind of like a human pyramid. They all climb on top of the other and you can’t ignore the fact that their crotches are very close to the other’s face. Don’t mean to sound like a pervert, though, just stating a fact.

“Now you’re just being nasty.” she said, but her face got even redder.

“ Jokes aside, I think you should ask her out.” I told her and I meant it. Ino doesn’t usually throw compliments like that to others. “I think she’s into you,too”

“Shut up!” she exclaimed. “ I don’t think she sees me that way...and if I do something to make her uncomfortable, the act would be ruined. We couldn’t work together anymore”

“Sakura, are you gay?” I asked her,curious. I’ve never seen her show any interest in anybody. She always seems too busy training. We all are, really. I have seen very few couples get together while being here.

“I don’t know” she said,with a sigh. “I would rather not talk about this but now that you mention it, are YOU gay?”

“No, I’m bi” I responded. I don’t feel uncomfortable with my sexuality. I’ve always known that I like both girls and boys. It’s just difficult to have a relationship when you travel with the Circus most of the year. Unless you date another cast member, that is.

“How can you be so comfortable saying it?” she asked me. “I wish I was as carefree as you”

“It’s just how I am and I accept it and don’t care about what others think”

“Do you like Gaara? I always wanted to ask you.”

“Of course, he’s a cool guy” I answered.

“No, I mean, as if REALLY like him.Like... are you attracted to him?” she asked,her green eyes now curious.

“Oh, no,no.I mean he’s handsome and all but he’s just a good friend.”

“All right. That’s cool,I guess. The Sabakus will always be a mystery to me.” she said and got up. “ I should get going. I don’t have anything to do for the rest of the day and I thought I might go for a run. You should get your back checked.”

“Yes, I will. See you around.” I told her. And with that she waved me goodbye and left. I finished what little left of food there was on my plate and put the tray back where it was.  
I decided to go see Shizune now and I walked straight to her office. On the way there, my phone buzzed. It’s a text message from the Old Pervert. He asked me to meet him at 7pm at his office.  
\-----  
Shizune checked my back, cracked it a few times and put some kinesiotape to help my lower back with some extra support for the next week but recommended me to go to the hospital if it still hurt after a few days. I think it’ll be fine. If it was a serious injury I probably wouldn’t even be able to stand up.  
I walked to Jiraiya’s office. When I entered,I saw Kakashi was there as well.

“Hello, Naruto” Jiraiya said.

“How is Gaara?” I asked him.

“He will be alright. He won’t be able to perform for a while, but with correct physiotherapy, he will be able to continue with his career in this circus. He just has to be very patient.” he answered. “Take a sit” 

I did as he ordered and sat next to Kakashi.

“I think both Naruto and I need to know what will happen to the act.” Kakashi said, bluntly. “ I need to know how we are going to proceed”

“ I think casting somebody else is a bad idea. There’s no way we can find a substitute for Gaara just like that” I said, feeling exasperated.

“You underestimate me, Naruto” The Old Pervert told me. “ I made a call to somebody I know has wanted to join our cast for a while and he can act as a replacement of Gaara for this show...”

“No way! What about the audition and the months of training!? You can’t just let any amateur become part of the cast! It’s not fair to us!” I stood up. I felt angry. This wasn’t fair.

“Let me speak” Jiraiya said.” This person has more than enough experience in circus. He wants the job and we need a last minute replacement for Gaara. This following month and a half will be his trial period. If he does a good job, he will sign a contract. If he doesn’t, he will be let go. That being said, I must add that I don’t doubt his abilities.”

“It’s too risky” Kakashi said, after being quiet for a while.

“ I would have thought after all these years that you would trust my judgement, Kakashi” Jiraiya replied.

“And I do. That’s why I will go along with your plan and do my best for it to work out”

“Really,Kakashi?” I feel seriously exasperated now.”This sucks”

“Naruto” Jiraiya said, serious. “ Would you prefer to not participate in the upcoming show?”

“No, seriously, old man?!” He couldn’t do that to me. He knows I would do whatever he wants to not be kicked out of the stage.

“You are not being very cooperative” he added.

“Fine! Whatever.” I muttered. “I’ll do my best to work with….whoever this person is”.

“When do we get to meet this fantastic person?” Kakashi asked him.

“Tomorrow, 8 am, in the training room.I told him that we were going to simulate an audition. That way you both get to see what he can do before introducing him to the rest of the cast. Don’t be late.”

“Can I go see Gaara now?” I asked, desperate to get out of there as soon as possible. I’ve never worked with anyone that I haven’t known for a while.I don’t even know if I can trust this person. 

“The doctor gave him something to help him sleep. He was pretty out of it by the time we got back. I would recommend you to see him tomorrow. He needs to rest” The Old Pervert told me.

“Fine. Now, if you excuse me…” I nodded curtly to both of them and left the room.

This is the shittiest day I’ve had in a while. I headed to my room hoping to be able to sleep tonight.  
\---------

As soon as I opened my eyes, I checked the time on my phone.It was 8:23 am. I was already late to the audition meeting. Fuck, Jiraiya will have my ass again. I got up, peed and then brushed my teeth. I threw on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a hoodie on top of it. I took my phone and left the room.  
I walked to the training room and I saw Kakashi and Jiraiya there, sitting on a chair and in front of them, about a meter of distance away, was another chair where a dark haired guy is sitting down. He had pale skin and sharp eyes. All of them are looking at me when I walked closer to them.

“Sorry for making you wait” I said. The dark haired guy looked at me, with an indifferent expression.

“Sit, Naruto.” Jiraiya ordered. I can’t believe Kakashi was actually on time.

I did as he said and sat down in the chair next to Kakashi,he said nothing.

“This is Sasuke.” Jiraiya made his official introduction. “He has a 9 year experience of working in the circus.” Sasuke just sat there, without changing the expression on his face.

“Can you show us what you can do?” Kakashi asked, although he didn’t seem sceptical about this.

Sasuke stood up and took his jacket off. He left the garment on his chair and then walked further away across the room. He started to take impulse by running and then did front handspring,combined with somersault, air rotations, back handspring… all with precision and elegance. All of a sudden, he started to seem familiar. I have seen this face before.

He then did a handstand, spread his legs into a middle split and then he released one arm. I have to admit that he is talented. And fucking hot. Then, I remembered where I’ve seen him before. He’s Sasuke Uchiha from Orochimaru’s Cirque du Freak! I’ve been following him on Instagram for a while (but I follow so many people that I forgot for an instant). What the actual fuck. I’m going to have a word with the Old Pervert after this. But for now, I’m just going to sit through this and say nothing.

“Remarkable” said Kakashi. “Is there anything else that you do? Do you have experience in another discipline?”

“I do fire breathing” Sasuke replied. 

“Excellent. We don’t have anybody who does that at Hidden Leaf. We could use that to develop a new act in the future. “Jiraiya added ”If you stay,that is”

“Do you have any experience in aerials?” Kakashi’s asked. I was wondering that as well.

“ Not really. But I’m a fast learner” Sasuke answered, then after a brief pause, he added” I thought you needed me for duo floor acrobatics, not aerials”

Well, at least there’s something he can’t do. I was starting to feel lame. I suddenly felt the urge to jump into a trapeze. I haven’t done that in a while.

“Yes, that’s right. He was just asking for future reference. Many of our cast members do more than one type of acrobatics.” Jiraiya said.

“Fair enough” Sasuke smirked. Damn, he must be the main attraction in Orochimaru’s Circus. That’s the kind of smile that would make any girl sigh.He seems so full of himself.

“Well, I officially welcome you to Hidden Leaf Circus” Jiraiya said, standing up and extending his hand. Sasuke walked to him and shook it. “I’ll have a room prepared for you by midday. You can move in today.You guys need to start working by tomorrow first thing.”

Sasuke only nodded. And then extended his hand to Kakashi to shake hands with him as well.

“I’m Kakashi. I’ll be your coach. I’m looking forward to work with you”

“Me too” he replied, then turned to me, extending his hand and asked “And you are…?”

“Naruto” I said dryly and Jiraiya sent me a deathly glare. I really can’t escape this so I just sucked it up and swallowed my pride. “I’m your new partner” I stated but I didn’t shake his hand back, so he withdrew it, the same self sufficient smile drawn in his face.

I know two things about Sasuke Uchiha, Gaara’s replacement.  
One, he’s smoking hot.  
Two, I hate his guts.


	2. Sasuke's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> Thanks to everybody who left kudos and sent me messages! I'm very happy to read that you liked the story!  
> This chapter was beta'd by the wonderful psychonightmare! Check out her tumblr!
> 
> Again,I leave the website thecircusdictionary.com where you can find the acrobatic figures I described in these past two chapters!
> 
> Find me on tumblr as ixtab-loves-me.tumblr.com :) And also if you'd like to support the work, you could bey me a Ko-fi! As I just moved to the big city and I'm struggling a bit to find a job :') I would absolutely be thankful forever to you.
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/J3J66BEY
> 
> I must add as well that injuring yourself when you do this kind of discipline sucks ass...The othet day in my contortion class I felt a PLOP on my right thigh and since that I've been in pain an dunable to do my middle splits properly...sigh.
> 
> Enjoy!

Sasuke's POV

I couldn’t believe I was finally going to be free of Orochimaru. I’ve wanted to leave his company for a few years now and I just couldn’t find the way. I thought I was going to be trapped here for a few more years but I was so desperate that I sought out for help to Jiraiya. Although I never open up to people, I confided in him what my concerns were about working for Orochimaru’s company and he seemed to understand, saying he would find a way to help me when the time was right.  
I was very relieved the day I received his call, and even more thrilled to know he requested my presence as soon as possible.I was lucky to be able to get out of contract since it was time to renew it anyway. As I packed my stuff, I had a million different thoughts in my head about what was going to happen to me now that Orochimaru knew that I’m leaving. I didn’t tell him that I wasn’t renewing my contract to work at Hidden Leaf Circus, I just said that I needed a break.  
Orochimaru’s Cirque du Freak occupies one of the first places (along with Hidden Leaf Circus) in the world’s top ten favorite circus shows. Because its aesthetics are based mostly in horror and goth culture, one would think that our show is directed to a very specific audience, but it turns out that everybody loves a little scare and enjoys a show a bit more on the exotic side. People like to be surprised, to be amazed. And Orochimaru’s show certainly knows how to do that.

After I finished packing, I took my suitcase and the big backpack that contained all my possessions and I got out of the trailer that has been pretty much my home for the past nine years. I saw Karin running towards me. 

“Sasuke!” she exclaimed.” You’re leaving now? I thought you would wait until tomorrow.”

“No” I replied. “I have to leave tonight. It was good working with you,Karin.”I said, as I handed her my key.” Please, tell the others I said goodbye.”

“You didn’t tell anyone where you are going” she said with a sad look in her face. “Will you keep in touch?”

“I will. We’re still friends on Facebook, remember?” I said to her, trying to cheer her up a little. She’s one of the people that I’m closest to. She has been in this company since she was six years old.

“Right” she said, smiling. “We’ll miss you.” Then she added after a moment. “Our act won’t be the same without you”

“I’m sorry” I said. And I was. I just couldn't stand being here anymore. I turned my back on her and started walking.

“Good luck!” she yelled, as I was already near the parkway.

I took a deep breath as I kept walking. I said goodbye to my old life.  
\----------  
I messaged Jiraiya when I was outside Hidden Leaf’s tent and a few minutes later he was outside to meet me.  
He gave me the tour, from the actual stage to the cafeteria (he said they serve food until midnight) and then he showed me their training room. It was very similar to ours, with the exception of the aerial silks that are installed in their training space. Orochimaru doesn’t have anybody that uses silks on his show. Then he took me to my new room. It was a little smaller than what I had at Orochimaru’s but it was perfect.

Even though I felt nervous because of the situation (moving from a company to work for the competition), I’m actually excited to be here. It’s going to be a lot of hard work but I consider myself capable to do it. And I think Jiraiya feel the same way, which I’m grateful for. He didn’t really have to do me any favours, but he did anyway. And I’m not one to disappoint. I thanked him again, for giving me this opportunity and he left me to settle down, closing the door after him.

Since I was little, I was considered a genius. My parents never understood why I wanted to pursue a career in circus instead of going to college like everybody else. Of course, when you are underage and travelling with the circus you are practically obligated to finish at least high school and after that, decide if you want to continue with college but I chose not to. Not yet,anyway. Even though I knew I could pursue a career in whatever I felt like, I knew nothing would make me as happy as acrobatics do. But at some point in the past years, I lost that. I was still performing to perfection but I had lost my passion and that’s when I knew I needed to get out of Orochimaru’s company. I want to get my passion back.

Although, I don’t know how easy working here it’s going to be. Obviously the expectation is high but so far, the fact that my performance partner seemed to already hate me worries me more than anything else. Even though I pretended to not know his name, I actually know who he is. He’s Naruto Uzumaki and even though I would never admit it, I have been following him on social media for a while. I saw some videos of him in TV show presentations of their previous tours and I could see he has what I’ve lost after working for Orochimaru. I actually felt kind of jealous. He doesn’t seem the kind of person to brag about his talent despite the fact that he’s remarkable. It shouldn’t bother me, but for some reason I didn’t know, that rubbed me the wrong way. Nobody couldn't be THAT perfect.

I started unpacking my stuff. I folded my clothes neatly and put them all in the small chest of drawers that is in the room. There’s only that, a small table with a chair, a single bed,a tiny space where you can hang clothes, a small bathroom with a shower and a decent sized window. At least I won’t have to share the trailer with anybody else. I was hungry but I didn’t want to go to the cafeteria and encounter any cast member before tomorrow. I’m not a very social person, to be honest. I usually spend a lot of time on my own when I’m not on rehearsals. It took me a while to make friends with the cast members from Orochimaru’s company. Most of the performers are actually quite weird, a perfect match for the company they work for.  
After I have put all of my clothes inside the drawers, I unpacked my laptop and set it on the small table. I didn’t really feel like going online, so I decided to just go out for a walk and maybe go to a convenience store to get something.

It was past nine pm when I was walking out of the circus tent and I encountered a guy with a bowl haircut and the bushiest eyebrows I’ve ever seen, walking towards the entrance. Behind him was somebody with long,dark brown hair and pale eyes that almost look white. Is it a guy or a girl? I couldn’t tell,the person looked quite androgynous. Both of them were wearing hoodies, running pants and trainers.  
The guy with the bowl haircut looked at me,puzzled, and white-eyes did the same but neither of them said anything so I just kept walking. Tomorrow we will be formally introduced.

The nearest convenience store wasn’t really far so I bought a sandwich and a coffee and kept walking around for a while until I decided to go back.

\-----------

My alarm went off the next day at 7:30 am. I was already awake by then. I got up, took some of the clothes I use for training out of the drawer and headed to the shower. Jiraiya sent me an email with the schedule of the training hours. They start at 10 am, so I should be having breakfast soon. Eating any later than 8:30 am would be a bad idea. When I was ready, I walked to the cafeteria. As soon as I entered, everybody stopped eating and turned to stare at me. This felt awkward. I need coffee. I barely feel like a person right now. I walked towards the kitchen and scanned the trays. I took a plate and chose some eggs,sliced tomatoes and a piece of toast. I filled up a cup with plain black coffee then went to find a place to sit. As I scanned the room,I realized Naruto wasn’t there.

Just as I started eating, I saw the same bowl haircut guy along the white eyed person walking towards me.

“I was surprised to see some stranger leaving the place last night,but we have been explained that you would be joining the cast” the guy with the bowl haircut said “ My name is Rock Lee. But everybody calls me Lee”.

“I’m Neji” said white-eyes, in a very deep,obviously masculine voice. 

“I’m…” I started to speak but I’m interrupted by Rock Lee.

“Sasuke Uchiha” Lee said,completing my sentence. I arched a brow in response to that. He smiles” We know who you are.”

“Lee,” Neji said to his friend “you are being too enthusiastic”.

“Oh...I’m sorry” Lee apologized. 

“It’s fine “ I said, noticing the other people in the room staring at us.

“Ok, we’ll get going” Lee said. “ Nice to meet you”

I nodded in their direction, trying to smile -but failing at it- and they left. I feel awkward. I focused again in eating and drinking my coffee. As I’m bringing the coffee cup to my lips, a pink haired girl came up to me.

“Hey! Are you looking for Naruto?” she asked me.

“Not really” I replied, honestly. I wasn’t looking for him. She gave me a confused expression, as if she didn’t understand or couldn’t believe what I just said.

“ But you are his new partner,right?” she asked.

“Right” I confirmed.

“Anyway, I’m Sakura.Nice to meet you” she said.

“I’m Sasuke” I answered and extended my hand to her. She shook it.

“Most of the cast members have been here since they were very young. Except me, I joined the cast 3 years ago.” she said. Why was she even telling me this?.” It can be kind of tough...being the new member in a cast that is so familiar with each other. Well, anyway, let me know if you need anything” she said then turned back around. “Oh, and by the way, he’s already in the training room” she added before turning again and leaving. 

I assumed she was talking about Naruto. They must be close. I wonder how close they really are.

The fact that Naruto is in the training room already is good. At least I won’t have to wait for him this time.

\-------  
When I entered the training room, I saw Naruto stretching on the floor, in a split. His shirt was sweaty so I assumed he has been training heavily earlier and not just stretching. Kakashi wasn’t there yet.

It’s been a while since I ate so I decide to warm up first,starting with circular movements of my shoulders, forward and backwards, then repeat the same motion with my elbows and then my wrists.  
We didn’t exchange words until Kakashi arrived, fifteen minutes later.

“Sorry I’m late, guys, but I had a last minute phone call that I couldn’t ignore” Kakashi said to excuse his unpunctuality.

“You’re always late, no need to explain yourself” Naruto murmured, I guess to himself.

“Well I guess you both had enough time to warm up and now we are ready to start working.” Kakashi said enthusiastically. “Sasuke, before showing you the choreography steps, I would like to see you both doing the figures that will be included in the first minutes of the act. “ 

He quickly played a video for me in his iPad, a video of Naruto and his previous partner so I could see the first part of the act and the figures. They were all pretty easy figures that were adorned with some nice dance moves to make it more aesthetic. In this first part Naruto will be the base.

The first figure was a shoulder stand on feet. Pretty easy. Naruto laid on the floor with both legs and arms stretched out. I took his hands and positioned my shoulders on the soles of his feet then tucked and elevated my pelvis while my legs were spread into a middle split before bringing them together, slowly until my whole body was straight and up. Kakashi didn’t look 100% convinced but not displeased either. I slowly went back down to the floor. 

“It’s not perfect but it doesn’t look so bad. Let’s do it one more time” Kakashi said.

“ You’re heavy” Naruto said to me, while getting back to his feet. It was the first time he has spoken to me since we’ve been on the same room.

“Maybe you just aren’t strong enough” I replied. Who the hell did he think he was? I’m not fat.

“Bastard!” he muttered.

“Moron” I replied.

“Guys,are you twelve of what? I thought I was hired to train serious acrobats not to babysit a bunch of teenagers” Kakashi sighed. “Shoulder stand on feet,one more time, c’mon” he commanded.

I took a deep breath and decided to ignore Naruto’s remark and we got into position again and repeated the figure. Kakashi approved it and we moved onto the next figure,which was ‘candlestick'. Naruto laid on the floor with the knees slightly bent and the arms stretched to the front. I put my hands on his knees, my shoulders on his hands and tucked my tummy, legs spread into a middle split, bringing them upwards and closing them slowly until my body was completely straight. His body was radiating heat, and for a moment I stared into the firm muscles of his abs. His tight t-shirt wasn’t letting much to the imagination. Wait, what? I can’t deny he is good looking but he’s a dumbass and I can’t let that distract me from training. I went back down, abruptly.

“Sasuke, what’s wrong?” Kakashi asked,a shit eating grin is drawn on Naruto’s face.

“I’m sorry. Could I get a small break? I need to drink some water” I asked and felt ashamed by it. He’s going to think I’m lazy.

“Aww, poor baby. Is this training too hard for you?” Naruto teased.

“What’s your problem?” I asked him. 

“Naruto, leave it.” he reprimanded him. “Sasuke, you can go and get some water. See you in five5 minutes”.

I walked to the cafeteria and got three water bottles to give the others. I tried to take deep breaths and cool down a bit. I can’t fail at this. I can’t let Naruto’s teasing bother me and I certainly should not be ogling that idiot. That’s the worse part.  
I got back to the room. Kakashi and Naruto stopped talking the minute I crossed the door. Awkward.

“Hey, I brought you these” I say and handed a bottle to Kakashi and threw another at Naruto. He caught it.

“Thank you” Kakashi said. 

After taking a few sips of water, we assumed positions again. We repeated ‘candlestick' and after Kakashi approved, we moved to next figure,which was front angel laying down. Naruto laid down again and flexed his legs a bit while I positioned my pelvis on the soles of his feet. I used his hands as support and leaped. He stretched his legs upwards and when I felt secure, we started letting go of the other’s hands. 

“That looks beautiful. The movements were very fluid and precise. Well done.” Kakashi applauded. I went back down and we repeated it, to perfection. 

After this,Kakashi and Naruto showed me the choreography steps,one by one. This was going to be a long day.

\-------

We finished rehearsal after other cast members started arriving. I wished I had more time to rehearse this. I guess I will have to come back later when everybody is asleep. For now, I need to shower and eat something. I decided to shower first, needing to relax my muscles that were starting to feel sore. 

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve done this, you always end up in pain. It gets better though. I don’t think I’ll ever forget my first gymnastics lessons and how ridiculously sore I was and how unsympathetic my parents were because they thought gymnastics were a waste of my time. I was only 8 years old. After a few years of that you get use to being sore most of the time. But it’s a good kind of pain. It reminds you that you are doing something with your body, something that most people can’t do or aren’t interested in doing: you’re exploring all of your body's capabilities,you are taking it to the limit.  
We, acrobats, defy gravity.

My left shoulder felt particularly tight today, for some reason. I decided to put a thermal patch on it as I got out of my shower. After putting it on my skin, it warmed up pretty quickly so I just enjoyed the relief and threw a shirt on and a pair of pants. I put my socks on and my favorite Converse. I decided to check my phone since I haven’t in a while. I have a message from Karin. It read ‘Suigetsu was soooo mad u didn’t say goodbye 2 him bfore leavin’. Don’t be a stranger xxxx’. I smirked at this. I typed ‘I won’t. Waiting 4 everything to settle’ and hit ‘send'. I put it back down.

I should get something to eat soon before I have to go back to train by myself.  
\---------

It was past 8pm when I finally had the training room to myself. I have to admit that it’s nice that the cast members work really hard but I seriously needed this space.  
After I have warmed up, I started rehearsing the steps of the choreography, without music, just replaying it by memory in my head. I counted every time I executed a movement, everything needed to be precise. I don’t know how much time has passed when I’m interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Not so bad” I saw Naruto smirking, with his arms crossed in his chest, leaning down on the doorframe. How long had he been there?. “But you look empty. Don’t you feel anything at all? When you are on stage, and all eyes are on you. Don’t you feel thrilled? Like you could do anything, be anything?”

“I like to be precise in my movements.” I answered.

“That is fine but even precision can be dull if there’s no passion in your interpretation” he replied. 

“You don’t know me at all” I said. But I knew, deep down, that he was right. 

“You come across as having a fire type personality” he said. My fire has extinguished. I chuckled.

“What about you?” I asked.

“I’m more like the wind” he said, with a determined look on his face. He walked towards where I was standing and faced me. “Listen- we need to work as a team. We don’t have a lot of time and we must perfect this, to at least have something to show for in this week’s review meeting. And it has to be good.”

“I already know that.” I replied. The look of determination on his face left me dazzled. Naruto was emanating energy, in a way I hadn’t perceived before. “I’m not failing at this. I won’t let anybody down.”

“I’ll rehearse with you. We can review the movements and the figures together. We can have the first part of the act covered in two days” he said casually, like it wasn’t a big deal. He was probably not affected by my presence the way I was by his. He startled me. That upset me. 

“Alright. Do you want to meet every night? Let’s say, at 9pm?” I asked, trying to sound as casual as he did.

“Yes, that sounds good” he replied, nonchalantly.

We rehearsed the choreography for over an hour. I worked towards learning every movement and Naruto worked towards being in sync with me. We rehearsed the figures, and this time, it felt like we could do anything. I could feel joy. Naruto’s energy was contagious and it felt like it brought me back to life,it was like taking a breath of fresh air after being locked up in a dark place for a long time.  
By that time, I almost got all the movements memorized so we decided to take a break. We went to lay down on the floor, side by side, breathing heavily.I tried not to turn my head to stare at Naruto but he was like a magnet and when he broke the silence, I could finally justify turning to face him.

“I feel like all the pressure is finally catching up to me” he said. “ I feel excited and terrified at the same time.” he confessed, and I suddenly felt embarrassed knowing that he was somehow opening up to me.

“Everything will be fine if we keep working extra hours. Try not to worry” I said, even though I find very difficult to follow my own advice myself. I could feel the pressure as well, but I couldn’t let it distract me from my goal. 

“My parents would be very disappointed of me now” he sighed. 

“I don’t see how that could be possible” I said, and regretted it immediately. “But umm...I don’t really know your parents”.

“They were acrobats in this circus when it was first founded. They were the public’s darlings” he said. “ After all that has happened this past week, I feel like I’m never going to catch up to them”.

“I see” I muttered and then added.”You are actually a pretty decent acrobat when you aren’t being an idiot” 

“Tsk. Bastard.” he said and frowned. “And anyway, what do your parents have to say about you leaving a good company such as Orochimaru’s?” he asked mockingly.

“They don’t have anything to say to me since I decided to join a circus. They’re lawyers” I replied, dryly and he snorted. I scowled. What a moron. He doesn’t understand what it feels like to not have your parent's approval on your career choices. It’s lonely. 

“ Don’t make that face” he told me. “ I’m sorry. I thought it was funny because I could totally see you as a lawyer,wearing a suit and all that. You got the whole thing covered. Intimidating face, uptight personality…”

“Fuck off! I’m not uptight!” I exclaimed, defensive.

“Excuse me!” he replied. “ But yes, you are.”

“Just because I don’t go around making friends with everybody doesn’t mean I’m uptight or boring”

“Tsk, whatever. We should go back to rehearsing.”  
I rolled my eyes and we got up. It wasn’t until almost midnight that we decided to stop and go back to our rooms to rest. Tomorrow will be another long day.  
\-------  
The next day I got up even earlier and decided to go for a run before breakfast. There didn’t seem to be a lot of movement just yet in the area. I ran past different shops and businesses but didn’t pay much attention to them. It was a chilly morning but I somehow felt good. It felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I even ignored the soreness of my muscles and the cold air hitting my face didn’t even bother me that much. I’ll take a hot shower when I get back. I don’t know for how long I’m out but I decided to go back after a while.

As I’m walking to my room, I ran into Jiraiya,who’s holding a cup of coffee in his hand.

“Hey, boy!” he said. 

“Good morning, sir” I greeted.

“How are the rehearsals going?” he asked me then took a sip of his coffee.

“They’re alright. We still have a lot of work to do” I told him.

“Great. Is Naruto behaving?”

“Kind of” I replied and smirked. “Don’t worry, I think I can handle him” I assured him.

“I know he can be a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes. He’s good friends with his previous partner and he was against replacing him. But I still hope he can get his act together and work with you” he told me. 

“He’s trying hard.” I said. “And so am I”

“I’m glad to hear that. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you need anything” he said and waved me goodbye.

I nodded and waved back and then continued walking to my room. It was still early so I laid down for a bit and scrolled down on Facebook to see what everybody was doing. I saw a photo of Karin,Suigetsu and Juugo during rehearsals. I wondered how everything was going with the cast of Orochimaru’s but I was still not inclined to call them just yet, not until I sign a contract with Hidden Leaf and that would be after the opening night,if Jiraiya decides I’m fit to join the cast,that is. I don’t really want Orochimaru to know where I am just yet.  
Maybe I should try to be more sociable with the other cast members, I don’t want Jiraiya to think I’m problematic or that I don’t get along with anybody. It’s just difficult for me to open up to others. But I guess hanging out with them now and then at lunch time doesn’t mean that I have to tell them the story of my life.

I decided to check my Instagram next and saw that I had two new followers.After opening the first one and looking through the photos, I realized it’s the pink haired girl’s account, Sakura. She had a lot of photos and videos of her bending her body at angles most people wouldn’t think possible. So she’s a contortionist, I see. She also had a lot of selfies taken with a blonde girl with long hair and other where they are also with a brunette that wore her hair in two buns at the top of her head, and it seemed she has uploaded a lot of selfies of her and Naruto as well. The other person following me is Lee. Most of the photos and videos were of him working out. He seemed quite friendly when we met but he seems a bit too much for me. I decided to check Naruto’s Instagram out of curiosity but I noticed he hadn’t updated anything in awhile. The last photo was of him and a guy with red hair, the guy standing in Naruto’s shoulders while he’s sitting on the floor. I assume that’s his former partner, whom I haven’t met and don’t recall seeing since I arrived to Hidden Leaf’s tent. I closed his Instagram after a moment of scrolling down because I suddenly felt like such a stalker.

My stomach was growling so I decided to make my shower quick and then go to the cafeteria to have breakfast.  
\-------

When I arrived at the cafeteria I saw almost everybody was there. I spotted Naruto sitting at a table with Sakura, the blonde girl and a guy with brown hair and a huge dog sitting on the floor next to him. I sighed. I walked to the coffee machine and served myself a cup and after that, I scanned the trays. I put scrambled eggs,a sausage, sliced tomatoes,a piece of toast on my plate and a nut bar on the side. Just as I was searching through the room for a place to sit, Sakura waved her hand at me, gesturing for me to join them.

“Hey Sasuke” she said. I think I saw Naruto roll his eyes but I’m not sure. “Why don’t you sit with us?”

“Thanks” I said and put my tray on the table while Naruto scooted over to give me space to sit.I didn’t really want to do it but I didn’t want to seem rude either.  
Everybody was looking at me, as if expecting me to say something. My throat suddenly felt dry.

“I’m Ino” the blonde girl said. “We’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Have they, really?“All good things, I hope.”

“Yes, of course” she laughed. ”So, how come you decide to leave Orochimaru’s company?”

“Ino…” said Sakura, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized. “Am I being too intrusive?”

‘Yes, you are’ I thought but didn’t voice it,“I just needed a change, I suppose” I replied.

“So you aren’t like a spy or anything like that?” the brown haired guy asked.  
Naruto snorted. He’s already being a moron so early in the morning and he’s also quieter than usual.

“Kiba! Don’t be rude!” Sakura reprimanded him.

“I’m just saying. Don’t take it personal.” he added, not really apologizing. Now, how the hell was I not supposed to take that personal? But I guess he had a point. It could seem suspicious that both Hidden Leaf and Orochimaru’s Cirque du Freak are touring in the same city at the same time and suddenly I become a cast member in their company.

“I had wanted to join this company for a while, actually” I said. And that was the most I felt like sharing today. 

“So, um, what’s new?” Sakura asked in an intent of changing the subject and relieving the awkwardness of the atmosphere.

“I saw you started following me on Instagram” I told her. “I followed you back”

“That’s a lame attempt at conversation” Naruto said, and chuckled. 

“Damn it, Naruto” Sakura said. “It’s cool.”

“I think your technique is quite good” I complimented her, she smiled. “ How long do you train a day?”

I felt Naruto suddenly tense but then he started speaking to Kiba, ignoring the rest of us.

“Well, I’m in an act with Ino and TenTen” she said, pointing out at the girl with brown hair put up into buns (whom I recognize from Sakura’s Instagram) who was sitting at a table in the other side of the cafeteria with Neji and Lee.“ I train with them around four hours a day. But I usually stretch for an hour before training and sometimes after” 

That is actually impressive. She’s dedicated.

“You work too hard” Ino said to her. “ Training is important but make sure to give your body a break, as well” Sakura blushed at the suggestion. 

“Well guys, we better get going.” Sakura said. Ino stood up as well.

“We’ll catch up later” Ino said and they both took their empty trays and left.

Now they have left me with Naruto and Kiba. Great. I chewed trying to not pay attention to them but then Kiba stood up, excusing himself saying he had to walk his dog, leaving me and Naruto alone.

“So, how are you doing?” he asked, breaking the silence. 

“I’m fine” I answered. “What about you?”

“I’m sore. Everything hurts!” he exclaimed.

“ Yeah, me too.” I admitted. He turned his head and we made eye contact but he didn’t hold it. Did I detect a bit of shyness? Instead,he turned his head upfront and looks at the door. He stood up abruptly.

“Hey, sorry, I need to get going. See you later at rehearsal?” he excused himself,I just nodded. Then he walked away to meet the people that had just entered the cafeteria.  
There was a guy with red hair in crutches who I instantly recognized as Naruto’s previous partner, a girl with honey blonde hair and a guy with strange makeup. I saw Naruto smiling at his friend and I suddenly was in a bad mood. 

And also a bit lonely, as I was sitting down on the table on my own now. I focused on finishing my meal instead. It wasn’t like I didn’t have another long day ahead of me.  
\-------  
“ Well done,Sasuke!” Kakashi said, just as we were in the middle of executing the choreography. “That looks so much better.”

We did it almost perfectly. When we has finished, even though we were breathing heavily, Naruto’s eyes met mine and he smiled. Our movements were so coordinated, so well synchronized. I felt happy, more like I used to feel before and Naruto’s expression, full of pride, gave me a warm feeling inside, something I have never felt before in my life, ever. The closest I’ve felt of feeling like this is when I’m performing. I returned the smile, but he was already looking again at Kakashi, waiting for instructions.

“I think we can start assembling this with the next part of the act and rehearse the next figures” Kakashi said. “ The order of the next figures, as we had decided before are: counter balance standing on thighs,reverse handstand and pigeon.”

“I don’t know about Naruto, but I feel ready to do something more complicated.” I said.

“Such as…?” Naruto asked, while both him and Kakashi looked at me with incredulous eyes.

“Well, those are very nice figures, but don’t you think we could add a little more thrill for the viewer? Why don’t we try doing a reverse through to handstand and then from there the flyer can do a one arm handstand while spreading into a middle split.”

"What the fuck? Are you fucking serious?” Naruto asked.

“I can be the base if you think you aren’t strong enough to carry me” I said.

“You are such a fucking bastard” he exclaimed. 

“That takes a lot of precision” Kakashi said. ”And practice time. We are already behind on time”

“In my opinion, I think we could add some spins and even an one arm planche. The audience will love it.” I added.” We could switch positions” I said and smirk. 

“You certainly could” Kakashi snorted.

“You are crazy, dude” Naruto said, sighing.

“And you are a moron” I said.

“Fuck you!” the blond yelled.

“ I’m not 100% opposed to it” Kakashi said, thinking. “Naruto,you think about it.”

“I’ll fucking do it” he said. “As if I would be opposed to a challenge”

“Naruto and I could figure it out during rehearsals and have the act ready on time”

“Well, then, both of you. There’s no time to waste.” Kakashi said. “ The one arm handstand we should leave for the big finale. We can work through the choreography and the other figures. But we need to define the order first”.

“Why don’t we rehearse the second part with Sasuke as a base like we had defined in the first place?” Naruto said.

“I’m a stable base” I said. “I knew you were scared of doing it” I smirk.

“You bastard! I could be the best fucking base in the world but still,the act would be uncoordinated. We had agreed on three figures each and it would be stupid to change the first part we have been rehearsing everyday. And now we have a fourth figure, the finale.”

“It’s true. I agree on that,Naruto” Kakashi said. “Let’s try and doing them first and see how it works out. C’mon, let’s agree in the order first.”

“Counter balance on thighs is quite easy” Naruto says. “ We could do pigeon next, then the stomach planche, Sasuke will be the base in those figures,and the reverse through to handstand on one arm we shall decide after we see who’s the most stable base.”

“Sounds fair” Kakashi said. “What do you think Sasuke?”

“I’m cool with it”. I said. We’ll see who is the best base. I can clearly see now that Naruto has started to see me as competition. I think I see fire in his eyes everytime I challenge him. I don’t know if this is good or bad. I don’t want him to hate me for some reason but I like teasing him and unsettling him a bit. I don’t know why, it seems so childish to act this way and yet, I’m having more fun than I’ve had in my whole life.

“Alright. Let’s get to work then” Kakashi said.”Show me counterbalance on thighs”

I walked further away from him and Naruto followed me. When I got to my place Naruto stood in front of me and we grabbed each other by the wrist. I bent my knees to an almost sit down position, and Naruto Climbed on top of my knees and leaned back. I brought my knees together for a moment so he can position his feet on my left thigh then position his right thigh on my right shoulder while I grab him by the hip,very close to his ass (why the hell am I thinking about his ass right now?) I inhaled deeply, trying to get rid of the thought as we both let go of the hand that was still holding to the other’s.

“That turned out pretty well ”Kakashi exclaimed as he clapped. “Let’s do it one more time”

Naruto got back to the floor with an agile movement. We positioned ourselves again and repeated the previous movements.

“Don’t drop,me bastard” Naruto whispered to me.

“As if, moron” I replied.

“Guys, I can hear you. If you would stop with all that bickering maybe we could get some work done here” Kakashi added. “But the figure is good. We can move to the next one now.”

The next figure, pigeon, is a bit more elaborated since I have to carry him and hold his weight on my shoulder, but it’s still very easy. Naruto is standing in front of me and I grabbed him by the hips with both hands and pushed him up above me. He moves on of his hands to my shoulder for support and I rotate him to the side, I let go of one hand and we both extend him to the side. That way I am supporting him with just one hand and he’s supporting the weight of his body with the hand he positions on my shoulder. Then he folded one leg, touching the inside of his thigh with his toes, his foot in a pointé.

“Amazing” Kakashi said, amazed.

I helped Naruto back down to the floor. I smiled at him and for a moment I think I saw him blush.

“Stomach planche” Kakashi said,simply.

We got ready. I squatted and Naruto positioned himself behind me, we held hands for support and he lifted one foot to rest on one of my thighs and use it as impulse while I pulled him up the air, both his feet landed on my shoulders. We didn’t let go of the other’s hand until he bent one knee to position his stomach on my open palm, still holding to the other hand for support and then stretches his legs back away from my shoulders. He then let go of my hand while grabbing the one on his stomach for support. We both stretched our remaining arm to the side. I felt myself stagger a bit but quickly regained balance.

“Not too bad. We need to work on this one. You can’t stagger on stage,Sasuke” Kakashi shook his head. “Let him down”

I extended my hand to Naruto again and he took it, and slowly guided him back to the floor.

“If you drop me, I’ll fucking kill you, bastard” he warned me as soon as his feet touched the floor.

“I’m not scared of you, moron” I replied. “and I won’t let you fall”

“You better not” he muttered.

We practiced for a couple more hours until my shoulders started to hurt terribly. Kakashi decided to leave the last figure for the next day. When we were all ready to leave I went to pick up my hoodie and checked the time on my phone. I was starving but maybe I should take a hot shower first. 

“Hey” Naruto’s voice took me out of my thoughts. “See you later? Same time?”

“I’m thinking it might be the best if I take a break tonight. My shoulder muscle is feeling overworked”

“You should go see Tsunade. She can check it for you” he said.

“Yeah,I guess so. But if I feel better after resting for a few hours, I might be up for training later” I knew that we had a lot of work to do and felt weak for skipping our extra rehearsal hours but at this point I know I need to be careful with causing any potential muscle strains that could become more complicated if unattended.

“Okay, then” he sighed. “Let me know” Why did he look so bummed out all of a sudden? He seems to hate my guts, most of the time.

“Can I have your number?” I said, without thinking much about it but I regretted it immediately.

“What?” he asked, flabbergasted.

“Your cellphone number, I mean” I shrugged, trying to not show that I was actually nervous about it. I don’t know what came over me, but still, I tried to explain, “so I can text you later to let you know if I can make it or not to rehearsal”

“Oh” he said. “Okay, fine. Can I have your phone?” he asked, gesturing to the device in my hand. I handed it to him and he typed his number in it and saved it under his name.

“Well, I gotta go” I said after he handed my phone back to me. 

While I was walking back to my room, I checked his contact on my phone and changed the name to “Moron”. I couldn’t but smirk.  
\---------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading through the end!
> 
> I'd love to hear from you. Don't hesitate in sending a message if you want to say anything about the story!
> 
> Until the next update!


	3. Naruto's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> This took me longer that I have intented but I've been going through a difficult time. Still adapting to the new city, dealing with depression and new medication and having a hard time concentrating.  
> Thanks to my wonderful beta psychonightmare for her great observations!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at ixtab-loves-me.tumblr.com!  
> And if you like this work and you'd like to support me, you could buy me a coffe here ->ko-fi.com/J3J66BEY
> 
> Thank you for all your comments and support!

NARUTO'S POV

 

After my shower, I sighed as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I felt so tired, almost drowsy. I knew the next weeks were going to be long but still, I felt quite optimistic about the act.

Working with Sasuke wasn’t easy. It’s difficult for me to concentrate when he’s so...dazzling. I feel a strange sense of rivalry and an undeniable fascination towards him.  I didn’t want to feel like this now that I need to focus all of my energy into training. I decided that I needed to avoid Sasuke as much as possible, even though we need to work together for hours daily. I don’t want to think of him in that way, I don’t want to feel like those high schoolers in soap operas, mooning over the new hot boy at school. I don’t even know him, really. The information I shared with him during our conversation the other day when I found him rehearsing made me feel stupid. This isn’t more than physical attraction: he’s hot and I’m a horny young adult who hasn’t had any action in months. That must be it, I’m just sexually frustrated.

 

I left my bathroom with the towel wrapped around my waist and while I’m looking for something to wear in my drawers, I heard my phone buzz in my bedside table, so I went to check it. It was a text message.

 

“ _ Tsunade said it would be better if I take it easy for the rest of the day _ ” it read. It was an unknown number but it was quite obvious who sent it. I decided to tease him.

 

“ _ Who’s this? _ ” I typed and pressed ‘send’. In less than a minute, my phone buzzed again.

 

“ _ Moron _ .” It read. I imagined Sasuke’s self satisfied smirk and I smiled to myself, suddenly feeling stupid.

 

“J _ K...bastard. Chill out. _ ” I wrote and then added a poop emoticon, then hit ‘send’. My phone buzzed again almost immediately.

 

“ _ Whatever,dumbass. See you tomorrow? _ ” Sasuke’s next message read, accompanied by an acrobat emoticon, which made me smile again.

 

“ _ Duh _ ” I typed and sent the message. After that my phone didn’t buzz again. I told myself that I wasn’t disappointed.

 

Since I wasn’t going to rehearse again, I decided to take a muscle relaxer for the pain. After I got dressed, I laid down in bed and fell asleep almost immediately, thanks to the medicine’s soporific effect.

 

\----

 

When I arrived to the training room the next day, I saw Sasuke was already there. He must have warmed up already since he was practicing his one arm handstand, switching from one hand to the other, slowly, but with elegant precision. Damn, he looked fine.

 

“Hey,” I greeted him. He was soon on his feet again.

 

“Hey,” he replied.

 

“How is your shoulder?” I asked as I started moving my arms in circular motions.

 

“It’s better.” He said and we both stayed quiet for a moment.

 

We warmed up for almost thirty minutes until Kakashi showed up, trying to excuse his tardiness with one of his dumb stories. Both Sasuke and I sighed at that.

 

“Well, today is the day when we decide who will be the base and who’ll be the flyer in the last figure. After we have that set, we can work on assembling both parts of the choreography once and for all, and focus only on that until the opening day.” Kakashi said and yawned. Asshole slept in, it’s obvious.

 

“ How do we do it?”I asked.

 

“You, Naruto, will be the base first.” He said. “It is very important that you both remember when you are flyers that if you feel at any moment that you are going to fall...you probably will. Both of you need to learn how to be in sync with the other and to read the messages from the other’s body without having to voice them.”

 

I moved my neck from one side to the other until it cracked and then walked up to Sasuke to get in position. I could do this. Sasuke stood up before me, with his back to my chest. I took his hands when he extended them backwards, and we both took impulse. He tuck in his hips upwards and into a middle split. Our sights met and for a moment I held my breath in front of his dark gaze. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. I held his gaze and, slowly but firmly, started to release a hand, first by disentangling our fingers but keeping our palms joined before we finally started to let eachother go. Sasuke spread his legs into a middle split. It took seconds but it felt like an eternity. As I kept looking into his eyes, I knew I was never going to let him fall.

 

The sound of Kakashi clapping made me come back to reality. 

 

“Well done!” Kakashi exclaimed, while I helped Sasuke get back to the floor. “That was very good. I’m actually surprised that you could do it without having been working together for long.”

 

I was excited. We switched positions for the next try. I positioned myself in front of Sasuke and we held the other’s hand in a tight, firm grip. I took impulse and with the help of Sasuke’s strength,I pulled myself up, tucking my hips in, spreading my legs in a middle split. I started to let go of his hand, trying not to lose my concentration by staring at his eyes again. It’s not the same being at the base than being in the air.  My attention got caught by a bead of sweat on his forehead, I inhaled, realizing I had been holding my breath. I saw fire in his eyes. I felt weak, like I was about to lose balance but I managed to pull myself together. What was probably a few seconds seemed like an eternity. 

 

“Get down now,” Kakashi said. And I did.

 

“You okay?” Sasuke asked, while wiping his brow with the back of his hand. I nodded.

 

“Well, so…?” I asked our coach, expectantly. 

 

“It was good but I think I prefer you, Naruto, at the bottom.” He said. Sasuke snorted.

 

“In your face!” I exclaimed, addressing Sasuke. Asshole thought I wasn’t strong enough? He probably didn’t see it coming.

 

Sasuke laughed, this time quite audibly. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh before. It’s kind of scary but...it is also kind of a nice sound. I didn’t think he had it on him. But what the fuck?

 

“What the fuck are you laughing at, bastard? I fucking won this,” I said.

 

“What are you talking about? This was never a competition,” he replied.

 

“I’m stronger than you.”

 

“No, you are just heavier,” he mouthed off.

 

“Guys, please,” Kakashi intervened.“Sasuke, you can take a break. I’d like to have a moment with Naruto, please.”

 

“Fine.” Sasuke said and walked to the door, looking suspiciously at both of us. 

 

Once he was out of sight, Kakashi finally spoke.

 

“You two are really good together, you know?”

 

“What the hell are you talking about, old man?” I questioned, suspicious. I wished he hadn’t found out my little secret fixation on my partner.

 

“I have very high expectations for this act. Your chemistry on stage is going to be amazing… If you stop acting like a brat and try to get along with him better, the act would be so much better.” he said. 

 

“Hey, what about him? I’m not the only one being an asshole here.” I exclaimed.

 

“I can tell he lacks of social skills but you don’t have that problem. I know that you and Gaara are good friends, but Sasuke being here instead of him is not necessarily a bad thing.”

 

“That’s a shitty thing to say! Gaara got injured!” I yelled.

 

“And you could get injured too, or any other cast member. Injuries happen, you can’t predict accidents. But that isn’t my point.”

 

“Then what is?” I asked, although I knew what he was trying to come across to.

 

“You two have great potential if you stop the bickering. It gets old, that.”

 

“Like you.” I smirked.

 

“Hey,I’m not that old,” he replied, then added, ”and I’m sorry about the ‘bottom’ joke by the way. I couldn’t help myself.”

 

“You got me lost here.” I shrugged.

 

“Well, good. Just…try getting along with him better. Hang out or something. He probably needs friends. I can’t imagine what working for Orochimaru would do to a person.” He said and shuddered.

 

“I don’t even know Orochimaru.”

 

“ You’re lucky.” he added.

 

“But it’s fine,I got your point. I’ll do my best.” I said. I honestly wouldn’t mind getting to know Sasuke but he seems inaccessible, like he has created this wall around him and nobody goes past it. I guess that might be part of Sasuke’s sex appeal.

 

Soon after,Sasuke was back at the door, bringing with him three water bottles. He handed one to me and other to Kakashi, without saying anything. We soon went back to rehearsing, adapting the choreography to the new changes made to the act.

It wasn’t until about an hour later into training that I got Kakashi’s joke and why Sasuke laughed. Damn it, that bastard.

 

\------

 

_ I aint no bottom, _ I thought to myself when I walked to the cafeteria the next day. I woke up early that day, feeling bothered by my coach and my asshole partner making jokes at my expense, but even more annoyed by not getting it on time. And for being so obvious. Was I really being that obvious? I didn’t think I was checking the bastard out or anything. Not all the time, nor when others could see. Or was I? Fuck, I feel hopeless. This is a distraction that I shouldn’t have. I should control my lustful thoughts, or at least, save them to myself, when I’m in my room with nobody around.

I should suggest the crew to go out. We haven’t done anything since Sakura’s birthday. I want to think about something else. I love training but I need to think about something else for a change before the stress drives me crazy.

I emailed my parents that morning, finally telling them about Gaara’s injury and the re-casting, but didn’t say anything else about Sasuke.

 

I saw that Gaara was at the cafeteria when I arrived, sitting on his own unlike most times that he hung out with his siblings. He had a cup in front of him and his crutches laid on the side. I waved at him and he nodded, wearing his usual poker face. I went to grab a cup of coffee before sitting down in front of him. 

 

“Hey,man” I said. “Got an early start?”

 

“No. I just couldn’t sleep. The cast is uncomfortable,” he said pointing at his injured foot,  “and I don’t have a reason to get up early nowadays”

 

“You will be alright, Gaara,” I told him, “you just need to take it easy for a while. It’s not like you’re going to be kicked out of Hidden Leaf”

 

“I know but I’m not used to not being active. I don’t like laziness.”

 

“It’s not laziness. It’s giving your body a break so it can heal and you can go back to your routine. Did the doctors tell you how long it will take?”

 

“A few months.” he said with no expression on his face. But I knew him, he was depressed about this even if he didn’t voice it. Gaara has always been a perfectionist. I feel sad for him. “Anyway, how is your training going? Are you getting along better with Sasuke?”

 

Of course I have told Gaara that I thought Sasuke was an asshole. I told him the first time I went to see him when he got back from the hospital. 

 

“Training is going well. We added a new figure to the act.” I replied. “I still hate Sasuke but Kakashi thinks there’s potential.”

 

“I heard Sasuke is quite skilled.” He said.

 

“He is.” I admitted.”He’s also full of himself,” I added and then took a sip of my coffee. It was almost cold. “Have you spoken to him?”

 

“No. But I guess I should introduce myself,” Gaara said ”I’m just not good with people.”

 

“Well, he isn’t either so don't feel bad.” I tried to comfort him. “Did you eat anything yet?” I asked, looking at his empty cup and the dark circles under his eyes.

 

“No. Just some coffee.”

 

“You need to eat enough protein or else your muscle mass is going to fly away from you.” I stood up and went to pick up a tray. It was early but the trays were full of food. I took a plate and filled it with eggs,sausage,panela cheese, some fruit and nuts. I took two forks and went back to sit at the table.

Gaara looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

 

“Aww,man, come on. At least try it.” I said and he took a small bit of  sausage.

 

“You do like Sasuke.” He stated, not asking.

 

“ He’s a bastard.” I answered.

 

“I’d like to see your rehearsals sometime.” He said then took another bite.

 

Before I could say anything, somebody tapped me in the shoulder and I jumped. It was Sakura,another member of the club of the early risers. She was wearing a pair of exercise pants and a blue sports bra underneath her unzipped white hoodie.

 

“ You scared the shit out of me, woman!” I pointed at her.

 

“I needed to know you were real and not an hallucination caused by my brain due to over exhaustion.” She replied as she ruffled my hair. “Hi, Gaara”

 

Gaara just nodded in her direction. I know Sakura doesn’t like him that much. It’s the poker face that scares everybody away. Sakura went to pick a plate and then came back to the table.

 

“So getting an early start today?” She asked, to no one in particular.

 

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep so I decided to come down and get some coffee and food.” I replied.

 

“I never sleep.” Gaara replied and everything felt awkward. Sakura cleared her throat.

 

“Maybe you could ask Tsunade for something to help with your insomnia.” She suggested.

 

“Sakura, she can’t prescribe that kind of medication.” I added.

 

“Chill out, dude.I didn’t say he should take Xanax or anything but maybe she can suggest some natural remedy or something,” she said then added after a brief pause “although, I wouldn't mind some Xanax right now.”

 

“Anko working you girls too hard?” I asked.

 

“You have no idea. I feel so sore and so exhausted.” She sighed. 

 

“I was thinking we should go out one day. Maybe the weekend? Go for some drinks or something.” I hoped she said yes. She was my partner in crime everytime we prepared an escapade and also my favorite friend to party with.

 

“Seriously? After last time? You, from all people?” She chuckled.

 

“Awww c’mon. I’ve been training extra hours this week and I could really use some distraction. Please.” I brought my palms together in a begging gesture.

 

“I’ll think about it,” she said, finally “but you should invite Sasuke along” 

 

“No way” I said. I don’t want to imagine Sasuke and a drunken me in the same room. I don’t know what could happen. I tend to get a bit loose when I drink. 

 

“Speaking of the devil…” Sakura said and I turned my head to see Sasuke entering the cafeteria. Only someone like him could manage to look good so early. He was wearing grey training pants and a navy blue jacket. He managed to make himself look so effortless. Like he just woke up looking like that. Asshole. I felt myself blush.

 

“Please, don’t call him!” I whispered to Sakura.

 

“Hey, Sasuke!” she yelled. I sighed. “Come sit with us!” 

 

I thought I saw him roll his eyes but he walked up to our table anyway, after filling a cup with coffee.

 

“Good morning,” he said. But he didn’t sit down with us. He looked at Gaara, who sat quietly there. He extended his hand to him. “I’m Sasuke. I’m very sorry that we have to meet under these circumstances”

 

“I’m Gaara. Nice to meet you.” He replied while shaking his hand. “ You have an interesting career. I’m glad someone like you was available to take my place and save the act” 

 

“It’s an honor.” Sasuke replied. Wow, so he can actually be kind.

 

I heard voices and saw Temari and Kankuro walking into the cafeteria.

“I need to get going.” Gaara said, while standing up and taking his crutches. 

 

“I’ll text you later.” I told him, he nodded.

 

“It was nice meeting you, Sasuke. Goodbye,Sakura.” Gaara said before leaving to meet  his siblings who went to sit at another table.

 

“I can’t believe he actually addressed me. Wow. I’m so shocked.” Sakura said incredulous then turned to Sasuke. “Would you like to join us,Sasuke?”

 

“Thanks but I just came for a cup of coffee.” He replied.

 

“ You have something important to do, bastard?”  

 

“ As a matter of fact, I do.” he replied,dryly. “See you at rehearsal,bottom boy” Sasuke said before walking to the exit. I tried to not look at him but I followed his steps until he was out of my sight. 

 

“What an asshole!” I sighed.

 

“ Bottom boy?” Sakura asked,repressing a laugh. “What was that all about?”

 

“He’s such a fucking bastard!” I roared and Sakura snorted.

 

“Is that why you were staring at his ass until he walked out of the room?” 

 

“I wasn’t!” I said,raising my voice.

 

“Hey, you should ask him out.” She smiled before chuckling.”And lower your voice.”

 

“Oh, so now you are giving me dating advice? Seriously?” I scratched my head with both hands in frustration.

 

“You’re so obvious...It’s so cute...you have a little crush…” 

 

“I can’t believe you are saying this to me. This is surreal, the whole thing.” I said, hiding my face between my hands in defeat.

 

“Seriously though. Invite him to come with us for drinks on the weekend.” She sounded excited.

 

“You have to be joking!” I exclaimed. “I can’t do that.”

 

“But he’s into guys,right?” She asked, curiosity filled her green eyes.

 

“You know what? I don’t know.” I thought a little more about it. There’s very little that I know about him. “I don’t think he’s seeing anybody but I could be wrong.”

 

“Well, the more reason to invite him for drinks on the weekend. You can find out what he’s into. Nobody is that inaccessible after a few shots.”

 

“I don’t want to make a fool out of myself. Maybe we should wait. We have review on Sunday morning and Jiraiya kicked my ass last time.”

 

“Hey, you suggested it. And I don’t remember that stopping you last time.He won’t find out this time.” She smirked maliciously. “You are just running away from your desires.”

 

“Oh, really? What about you? Have you asked Ino out yet?”  I teased her and her face went red. “Touche”

 

“I’m trying, alright? I just haven’t had the courage to do it yet.” She whispered.

 

“Well, darling, better hurry because you can’t expect a hottie like Ino be single for too long.” I laughed.

 

“Same for you, ‘bottom boy’.You better get your act together before somebody catches the Uchiha.” She raised an eyebrow. 

 

“It would be nice to get some, for a change. We do nothing but train and eat and train some more.” I said. And gossip,of course. It gets boring sometimes.

 

Sakura sighed. I assumed she experienced a certain degree of sexual frustration as well. We are humans, after all.

 

“Well, then. Let’s hang out on Saturday night. So that way be can be lazy the rest of Sunday after the review.” She suggested.

 

“Cool. But one thing, let’s be a little more secretive about it this time. Someone had to rattle us out to the Old Pervert last time” 

 

“I bet it was Temari. That sneaky bitch,” she stabbed her food with her fork. “don’t worry. I’ll only text the cool people” she took her phone out of her jacket pocket and checked her contact list “Okay, let’s see...Lee? And Neji?”

 

“Sure. Lee’s a lousy drunk but he’s cool” I nodded in approvement.” Neji is fine too. He doesn’t cause trouble.”

 

“Kiba? Shino and Hinata?” She asked.

 

“Let’s make sure Kiba doesn’t drink that much or he’ll complain all day the next morning. We can invite Shino and Hinata, they’re pretty chill”.

 

“What about Chouji?” 

 

“He eats more than he drinks but he can come as long as he doesn’t tell Kankuro” I said. I don’t really feel bad for not telling Gaara because he has never come in any of our scapades,ever.

 

“Yeah because Kankuro would tell Temari and Temari will tell Jiraiya. Noted. I’ll make him swear with his life.” She said.

 

“Your crush obviously needs to come with us. And Tenten,poor thing, she probably needs a night out.” I added, looking at her phone screen and she agreed.

 

“And don’t forget to tell your crush, too.” She gave me a devilish smirk.

 

“Not my crush,pinkhead.”

 

“You don’t even believe that yourself, blondie.”

 

“Fine. I’ll mention it casually. But he’ll probably say no.”

 

“Just try,then.” She added. 

 

I decided to check my phone and realized how late it was, I should get going to get ready for training. I just noticed that there’s more people in the cafeteria now.

 

“I have to go now or I’ll be late.” I said while picking my tray up. “Spread the word, babe!” 

 

“Count on it, foxy!” She replied. That’s something she calls me sometimes. She says that I remind her of a fox although her little nickname doesn’t sound cute but slutty. Although that doesn’t bother me.

 

After I left my tray and waved her goodbye, I ran back to my room to get ready for training.

 

\------

 

A few hours of our rehearsal had passed and so far the choreography was going great. Sasuke has memorized most of the steps and we’ll probably rehearse more later as well. At the moment, it like felt we didn’t have anything to worry about when it came to the act. I feel very strong about us...the way our bodies are in sync and alert of the other’s movements, the way we mold into the other to create something beautiful, that requires strength but that also looks fragile,effortless and is something ephemeral. But that at the same time, for me, it felt eternal.

I could feel the fire burning and the wind blowing between us, with every movement, every breath. I can feel it but I wouldn’t dare to voice it because the intensity of this sensation frightens me. It is as scary as it is inebriating. I have never felt anything like this before.

I wondered if Sasuke felt this way,too.

We didn’t speak much during the rehearsal. No sassy comments,snarky remarks or insults. We just performed. Kakashi was quiet the whole time, just watching us. When we finished, he asked us to repeat it,we did and it felt the same as the first times, just as intense and strong.

 

When our rehearsal was over, Kakashi walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

 

“That is what I was talking about the other day.” He said approvingly and I smiled at him.

 

“Thank you, coach.”

 

“See you tomorrow” he said, both for Sasuke and for me.

 

I picked up the hoodie I brought but had taken off some time during practice because I felt too hot. I saw Sasuke was still hanging around.

 

“Do you want to practice later as well?” I asked him casually, but tried to avoid looking at him busying myself by putting on my hoodie and fiddling with the zip. 

 

“I think we pretty much got it. Maybe take a break tonight?” he said. It just felt like he needed space away from me.

 

“It’s cool. See ya.” I said and walked to the door.

 

“Hey, Naruto!” Sasuke called, just as I was about to exit so I turned around. “Good job” he said,flatly.

 

Even though I pretended not to care, I couldn’t help to smile all the way back to my room. That was the first time he called me by my name.

\--------

Later that night, after dinner, a shower and putting on analgesic gel in my sore limbs, I laid in bed, thinking. 

Even though my whole body was sore from rehearsals, I felt amazing. And exhausted. So I just laid in bed, lazily checking my Facebook which I haven’t updated in a while.  I scroll down for a while, finding mostly funny videos of animals, depressing statuses, photos of my friends doing ‘their thing’ which is mostly preparing for our new upcoming show.  I saw a video of a fox wigging its tail and tagged Sakura on it.  I saw she had uploaded a selfie that she took with Ino. I hope she actually asks her out. They would make a cute couple. 

 

I tried to think about the last time I had sex and I can’t remember. Maybe 5 months ago? It was something casual anyway. The tent was stationed in a city, we went out one night and ended up going to some girl’s apartment.  It was fun and all but I can’t even remember her name now. And I think that’s kind of sad. It’s not easy to date when you work in the circus but I wouldn’t trade this for anything. Even though I didn’t want to, my mind drifted to Sasuke. I wondered how his life has been. What music he likes. What foods he hates. What TV shows he watches. Does he have siblings? Are his parents together? And of course, I wondered about if he is into boys or girls. Or maybe both, like me?

 

My phone buzzed and I saw it was a text from Sakura.

_ “The word has been spread. Warn your liver, foxy.”   _ it read. I chuckled.

 

“ _ Damn right, babe _ .” I replied

 

“ _ And tell your crush to come. _ ” She wrote back.

 

“ _ Why don’t we sneak in some beer and you come hang out in my room? _ ” I suggest. I’m tired but I’d rather have somebody here to be tired with.

 

“ _ Nah, I’m in the middle of some stuff. Save it for tomorrow night _ ”

 

“ _ Are you making out with a certain blue eyed, blonde? _ ” I added a girl kissing girl emoticon for more emphasis.

 

“ _ Oh my god, STFU _ ” she added a fist emoticon this time.”  _ GO TO BED” _

 

_ “Yes,mom” _ I typed.

 

I went to Instagram and, after scrolling for a little while, I got bored. I sighed. I wanted to text Sasuke and I decided to go for it. I would invite him to hang out with us tomorrow. Maybe that’s what he needs, to chill out and don’t be so serious.

 

“ _ Hey, are you up? _ ” I typed and added a poop emoticon, then sent the message. My phone buzzed seven minutes later.Not like I was counting or anything.

 

“ _ Who is this? _ ” it read.Seriously? 

 

“  _ Bastard _ ”  

 

My phone buzzed again.

 

“Y _ ou have no sense of humor. _ ” It read.

 

“ _ Whatever,dude. _ ” 

 

I decided to start typing an invitation message for tomorrow night but another message from him popped up before I could finish.

 

“ _ Kakashi told me we’ll do a video recording of the rehearsal and then a review with the others on Sunday _ .” He wrote. I sighed and deleted my previous message.

 

“ _ Yes, that’s what we do when there’s an upcoming show. _ ” 

 

“ _ That’s fine, but what time is it? nobody told me _ .” 

 

“ _ 11 am,Jiraiya’s tent _ .”

 

“ _ OK, thanks _ ”

 

“ _ Hey so the other guys and I were thinking of going out on Sat night. Wanna come? _ ” I waited a moment before pressing ‘send’. I rolled on my bed nervously until I felt my phone buzz again, so I opened the text.

 

“ _ Where are you going? _ ”

 

“ _ We don’t know yet. To a bar or something. _ ” I typed.

 

“ _ Isn’t that going to cause problems with Jiraiya? _ ”

 

“ _ Aw c’mon. He won’t find out, only VIP ppl were invited this time so don’t tell anybody. _ ”

 

“ _ Am I VIP,then? _ ” 

 

What an arrogant bastard.

 

“ _ No,I felt sorry for your antisocial ass. So, you coming or not? _ ”I added an annoyed emoticon.

 

“ _ I’ll think about it _ ” his last message read.

 

Even though I felt tired, I decided to go for a walk. I prefer to leave my room than to be there just wondering all night. I’ll grab a snack and a drink at the cafeteria. It wasn’t that late yet.

 

\----------

 

I chose to grab a cup of juice and a granola bar. The cafeteria was almost empty, I just saw Lee and Tenten hanging out there. I said hi to them, glad to see that Tenten was in good spirits after last week’s fiasco.I could understand since I was in the same situation. In the end, I decided to not engage in real conversation and wished them a good night.

 

As I was walking past the training room,I heard noise and decided to look who was there. Usually, it would be me and Sasuke working extra hours but these past days we have skipped that. When I picked through the door, I saw the last person I expected to be there. It was Gaara. 

I stood there, quiet, just watching. Mesmerized.

He was dancing, performing with the aid of his crutches, which at that moment,seemed to not be any limitation to his movements but a part of him, something that complimented them.

He did twists on the floor, moved the crutches as if they were wings, he slid through the floor with them with slow, effortless strokes...I don’t know if he has been working on this or just improvising but the assembly indeed looked great. And he did all of that without putting any of his weight on his injured foot and yet, his years of training as an acrobat gave the choreography precision and beauty.

 

I walked inside the room, quietly, but I couldn’t resist clapping. He stopped abruptly and looked at me with wide eyes.

 

“I’m sorry.I didn’t mean to scare you.” I said. “I couldn’t sleep so I went to the cafeteria and heard noise coming from here when I was walking back to my room”

 

“I couldn’t sleep either.” He lowered his gaze.

 

“Man, that was amazing.” I complimented him as I walked up to meet him. I patted him on the shoulder. “You should speak to the Old Pervert. I’m sure he would be happy to add a solo number for you in the upcoming show”

 

“I was just improvising,” he shrugged.” I don’t think he would do that for me”

 

“You underestimate your skills, buddy. It was amazing.”I said and smiled reassuringly.” You still have enough time to make a short choreography. Show it to him”

 

“Do you really think he would want to fit me in?” 

 

“You’re a valuable cast member. You’re family.” I said. “If you don’t do it, I will”

 

“No.Let me think about it first.” He replied, looking away.

 

“You’re right. It’s your choice.”

 

“I don’t think Konan, Nagato or Yahiko will be too happy if they’re asked to compose a new theme last minute.” He said. Yeah,I guess our musicians wouldn’t be too excited about it but they’re cool. They’ll get over it. 

 

“They do a lot of improvisation in every show,I think we could convince them.” I assured him. Feeling Gaara’s tenseness, I decided it was better to leave him alone.”I’m going to go back to my room now. I really do hope you take the chance. I have a good feeling about the upcoming show and it wouldn’t be the same if you weren’t in it.”

 

“Thank you,Naruto.” He replied and I felt him relax a little.

 

“That’s why friends are for. To support each other”

 

“You are the only friend I have.” He stated.

 

“That can’t be true!” I exclaimed.

 

“Well, Lee came to see me yesterday.”

 

“Lee? What did he want?” I asked, now curious.

 

“He brought me vitamins. He’s weird,” he stated “I don’t understand him.”

 

“See? He came to see you because he cares. He brought you a present to help you get better.” I told him. I assume Lee visited Gaara because he knows what’s like to be injured and unable to perform.

 

“I guess so.” He shrugged.

 

“You should try hanging out with him more. Maybe you’ll find out you have more things in common than you think.” I encouraged him. 

 

“Okay.” he replied, with the same poker face as always.

 

“I’m gonna get going,buddy. See you around.” I said as I patted his shoulder again. Then I left.

 

I meant every word. Gaara could still perform in the upcoming show. I felt in very high spirits when I got back to my room.

As I undressed to change into my sleeping clothes, I realized how strongly I felt about our team. We shared so much, we could learn and overcome obstacles. We never gave up even when our bodies were sore and our souls reeked of exhaustion. Even when the pressure felt like it was too much to bear, we took all the pain and frustration and turned it into something beautiful and exciting that made people laugh and cheer from enjoyment.

 

At that moment,I had the certainty that this upcoming show was going to be the best show we’ve ever had.

 

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I just want to say something quickly...On Cirque du Soleil's Varekai show there's a cast member that does a choreography with a pair of crutches (if he needed them for real or if he just used them as a prop, I don't know) and that's where I got the inspiration for Gaara's new improvisation choreography :P. I think the show is on Youtube if you'd like to check it out. It's one of my favorites by Cirque du Soleil.
> 
> I love to read your messages! They cheer me up everytime. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!


	4. Sasuke's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 4 finally! I am sorry for the wait but like I have mentioned before I was unemployed and depressed. I have spent these past weeks attending job interviews and all that jazz. I got a job, finally. My depression is getting better as well.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
> Big thanks to psychonightmare (tumblr) for being my beta.  
> Find me on tumblr as ixtab-loves-me!
> 
> By the way, will anybody be interested in reading an Ino/Sakura outtake? Leave me the answer in a message!! <3

Sasuke’s POV

I smirked as I typed the last text message I sent to Naruto. After the practice of today, the only thing I wanted to do was put as much distance between us as possible. Even though I felt very proud of myself for our performance earlier, I also knew that it wasn’t only me who won that accomplishment. It wasn’t just Naruto or me, but us, together, that made it possible. The release of energy and heat that our act exuded was so intense and so out of control that I felt like I was going to go insane. And at the same time, I felt secure. When I was able to stop thinking and just let my body do its thing, I could feel free and found my passion again. And it was thanks to that blond idiot.

This new emotions felt as exciting as they felt dangerous.  
And now he wanted me to hang out with him. Well, not only him but his friends, which is probably better even though I don’t really know them from the few conversations we’ve had. But if we are in a group of people, I could try to avoid being with Naruto the whole time and just try to mingle with the others. That is assuming I decide to go.  
I couldn’t deny this attraction anymore. I am attracted to my acrobatics partner. It even sounds like a cliché. I tried to convince myself that I didn’t want to taint our chemistry on stage which was the reason why I couldn’t approach him further, but deep down I knew I was just scared of the intensity of these emotions, sensations that are so unknown to me.  
I’ve never had an easy time talking to people and being friendly. My family has never been the type of people who showed a lot of emotions or shared their feelings; so growing up I never learned to express myself properly in front of others. For my father, that would have been a sign of weakness.  
Other thing that embarrassed me was to admit that I didn’t have any experience in dating or relationships. I have never dated anybody and even in my teenage years, I was never very sexually inclined. My sexual history is awfully short for the average person my age.

 

Traveling with the circus makes it almost impossible to maintain a normal relationship. Even though I am not a virgin, I haven’t slept with more than two people. The first one, Karin, one of my few friends. We were teenagers, already working for Orochimaru’s company. We went out one day, and bought alcohol (with the help of other cast members who had IDs), and that night we got drunk and decided to have sex because a) we were already tipsy and b) we were curious about what it felt like. I felt nothing, I didn’t even enjoy it. Even though I like Karin as a friend, I never really felt attracted to her. And even before her, I never really liked anybody. I never saw anybody and thought ‘Ah, I would like to fuck this person’ or wondered how they looked like without their clothes on.

A few years later, during a break the cast had, I flew back home and met somebody that I liked and became close friends with. And it was a guy. I had a hard time dealing with it at first. It wasn’t until after we became close that I experienced some attraction towards him, and of course, we slept together because it seemed like the next step but even then, it wasn’t amazing, and after I went back to work, we eventually stopped messaging the other. Since then, I haven’t felt that way towards anybody, until now. And it has been years.

That’s why the attraction I feel for towards Naruto is so frightening. Because it’s unusual and yet, so intense, so forceful and so inevitable. It’s unlike me to have this feelings. I feel more comfortable keeping my distance from everybody. I loathe vulnerability and these emotions put me in a vulnerable position. I was consternated, confused.

I don’t know if I want to go out with them tomorrow, since I really don’t feel comfortable in social situations but at the same time, I want to try and blend more with my teammates. Even if it was for them not to perceive me as an outsider or a ‘spy' as Kiba called me.  
The thought would keep me awake most of the night.  
\------  
When my alarm woke me up the next day and I took my phone to turn it off, I saw that I had been added on a group chat. The name read “The cool kids” with a wink emoticon next to it. Obviously Naruto had added me. There were already a lot of messages in it.

Sakura: no shitheads allowed in this group ;D

Ino: awww don’t be mean Sakura. Y is Kiba in the group then? ;P

Neji: ...wtf it’s like past midnight

Naruto: yer such an old man Neji lol

Neji: ...STFU

Kiba: I read that, Ino .I.

Ino: I was JK and u know it. Chill out Keebz.

Neji: hey y’all I’m trying to sleep and my phone keeps buzzing. Can U stop it, FFS? 

Sakura: I made this for us to plan our scapade tomorrow

Kiba: jiraiya will kick yr ass again Naruto

Naruto: he won’t find out. R U gonna tell him or wut?

Ino: we’re supposed to be the COOL KIDZ man. We don’t rattle on our pals

Neji: FML 

Sakura: I think we should leave one by one casually and then meet at some point.

Ino: Nice thinking,S!

Hinata: oh...Hi guys.

Kiba: Hi Hinata

Naruto: leaving 1 by 1 and then meetin’ up sounds like a plan. 

I stopped reading after that and turned off the notifications of the chat. I didn’t want to seem like an asshole and leave but I honestly didn’t care about it. I have some more important things to worry about today.  
I got up and peed. I brushed my teeth and then picked some clothes up. After I got dressed I went to the cafeteria for breakfast.   
\------  
After I got there and picked up my coffee,scrambled eggs with tomatoes and a nut bar, I went to find a table. It was still early, my favorite time to be there because it’s not too crowded. I only saw the coaches sitting in a table and Neji and Lee in another. They waved at me but didn’t invite me to sit with them so I just went and sat at a random table.   
I sipped my coffee, enjoying the bitterness of it but wishing it was stronger. The eggs were mixed with goat cheese and the tomatoes complimented the flavor. I took a bite after another, while at the same time I took my phone out and checked my emails. I had a new email from my brother. He expressed his surprise about my decision of leaving Orochimaru’s company but said he might be able to travel and watch Hidden Leaf’s upcoming show. I was about to start typing a reply when the sound of a tray been laid in front of me almost made me jump in surprise.

“Hey, did I scare you?” he asked. Naruto was now sitting in front of me. “Sorry”

“No.” I lied and put my phone down. I’ll reply to Itachi later.

“What are you up to?” he asked while taking a spoonful from a bowl full with something that looked like oatmeal.

“Not much.” I answered.

“Not very talkative in the morning, huh?” he said, teasing. “Or ever, really. What does one need to do to get a complete sentence out of you while attempting to small talk?”

“ I was just checking my email, that’s all” I replied, trying to not let his smirk affect me.

“You must really like tomatoes” he said while pointing out to my plate.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“Every time I see you eating, you always have them in your plate” he said and grinned. I couldn’t believe he had paid attention to that. 

“Yes, I like them” I replied. “What about you?”

“What?” he asked. He was so clueless sometimes. His attention span seems to be of about 5 seconds. I rolled my eyes.

“What do you like to eat?” I asked.

“I like ramen. And oranges.” he said and chuckled.

“Idiot” I replied while trying not to smirk.

“Bastard” he replied to my insult. “Anyway, are you coming later tonight or not?”

“I saw you added me in a silly group chat” 

“ Well,yeah. So we could all agree on a plan to leave”

“Are we really not allowed to go out?” I asked. We could always do whatever we wanted in Orochimaru’s company,as long as we delivered good results in our training. Not like I went out often, anyway.

“It’s not that we can’t, but there have been some minor incidents previously of cast members getting sick from drinking and ending up in Tsunade’s tent or falling asleep during reviews. And last week the review was a fiasco and we had gone out the night before so Jiraiya scolded me in front of everybody,and the closest we are to an upcoming show, the more estrict he gets.”

“I see. I don’t want to get in trouble with him while I’m not even an official cast member” I said. I don’t think that I would be wise from my part to be in bad terms with Jiraiya.

“You won’t be. Don’t worry.” he shrugged it off. “Didn’t you ever wonder what if felt like to be have a normal young adult life? Like to be able to be reckless now and then and not have to worry about it?”

“Not really” I admitted. “When I signed with Orochimaru, I knew I was where I wanted to be, and dedicated my days to fulfill his and my expectations”

“Wow, that’s boring” he said.” You must have been the most boring teenager ever”

“I always knew what I wanted and worked towards getting there” I replied. “I wasn’t born inside the circus”

“ Oh, are you insinuating that I somehow had it easier because my parents were acrobats?”

“No, but it’s easier to do anything when you have your parents’ support. That’s all. I wasn’t saying you didn’t have to work hard to be ready to perform in front of an audience” I said.

“Fine” he said.” You still didn’t answer my question about if you're coming later or not”

“ Alright. I’ll go” I replied. I just hoped I wasn’t about to regret that decision.

“Cool. Check up the chat for more details later”

“Fine. I gotta go now. See you at the rehearsal”

“Yeah. Bye.” 

\-------

We rehearsed again the full act before Kakashi recorded in case there were any corrections. We were at the end, about to do the one arm handstand, the final figure in our act. I was in the air and Naruto was the base. He was sturdy, stable. He wouldn’t falter. I spread my legs into a middle split while letting go of his hand, slowly but surely. 

“Ok. Stop right there. Get back down!” Kakashi yelled.

So I did, we held hands again before Naruto could help me go back to the floor safely. Even though I’ve had my fair share of yelling from my previous coaches, sometimes it can be distracting and end up with you falling or injuring yourself. Experience has taught me to not try to get down abruptly. My breathing was shallow. Naruto was agitated as well from the effort.

“How the hell do you expect me to record something like that for tomorrow’s review? After last week’s fiasco?” Kakashi said, tugging at his hair,clearly exasperated.

“ What do you mean?” Naruto asked him, confused. It wasn’t his fault though. He did a good job. I felt this coming. Kakashi looked at me.

“Sasuke, did you warm up your middle split?” he asked, upset. I felt stupid, to be reprimanded as a child for something so basic.

“Yes, I did, coach. But it feels a bit tight” I replied. I should have warmed up more but I was distracted thinking about less important stuff, like tonight’s outing.

“ You look stiff as a fucking corpse. The figure looks like shit” Kakashi stated, obviously frustrated.”I shouldn’t have to remind you to stretch properly before rehearsals. You are signed up in one of the Top Ten’s circus companies,you’re not a bunch of amateurs”

“I’m sorry, sir.” I apologized.

“Warm up some more. Have Naruto assist you. I’m out of here. I’ll be back in a moment and I want to see a perfect figure when I come back” he said, turning and walking to the door. “I don’t have time for half assed acts” he murmured on his way out.

I sat on the floor, spreading my legs side to side. I started flexing my knees to relax my tendons, first both together and then one at a time. Then I put my elbows to the floor and jumped into the middle split and back, and repeated this for a minute. After that, I brought my torso to the floor slowly, feeling a slight pain from the tightness in my right thigh. I took a breath, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, to help with the relaxation of my limbs.

“Do you need any help?” Naruto asked.

“ I think I’ll be fine.” I answered.

“Don’t be proud. I can help you.”

“Fine, whatever.” 

Naruto positioned himself behind me and pushed my torso down, strongly but gently, until my chest laid completely flat on the floor.

“I’m going to apply pressure on your hips now. Take a deep breath,okay?” he warned. I did as he said, inhaling deeply when I felt his hands on the lower part of my body.

I exhaled when he pushed my hips down,firmly and my body tensed. His hands felt warm and I tried to distract myself from the fact that his hands were applying pressure very close to my butt. I took a deep breath and tried to imagine all the repulsive things I could think of, whatever that could be potentially a turn off. I can’t get a boner, not now. 

“How does it feel? Does it hurt?” he asked.

“No, it’s fine.” I replied with a sigh. The tightness on my thigh was a little uncomfortable but that was not what was worrying me at the moment. I kept breathing and imagining stuff that made me feel repulsed...cockroaches,finding a hair in my food,finding bugs in the rice bag...

“I could also sit on you, for a deeper stretch,” he offered. Fuck, he basically offered to sit on my ass! My thigh still felt tense so I just nodded, feeling like such a masochist for doing this to myself. I just hoped I wasn’t blushing. This shouldn't be happening. I shouldn’t be getting sexual thoughts about my partner. It was distracting. When he sat on me, he let all of his weight fall on my hips so that my pelvis was completely against the floor. That hurt a little.

“Try to relax.Take deep breaths,” he said.

I didn’t say anything but just focused on breathing while I kept thinking about repulsive stuff...American politics,a naked Orochimaru…

We spent about 5 minutes like that and by the end I already had entered a zen zone where my impulses were under control.

Somebody cleared his throat. It was Kakashi who was walking into the training room again.

“Am I interrupting something?” he asked with a silly smile on his face.So now he was in a good mood. Naruto stood back up.

“Just doing as we were told, coach.” I said as I brought my torso back up and closed my legs.

“Your middle split certainly looks better. I’m ready whenever you are.” Kakashi said.

Naruto and I walked to the middle of the room and took our positions. 

\--------  
The rehearsal went well and Kakashi had the video for tomorrow’s review ready to take to the tech guy, as he looked very pleased with our progress.  
As I’m laying later that day in my bed, I opened the stupid group chat again to see what was going on with the planning of this outing. There were 146 messages since I last checked it in the morning. What the hell? I’ll just read the last ones,I didn’t feel like reading the rest of the cast’s blabbing.

Lee: Friends,I’m tired. Coach made us work extra hard today.

Tenten: whiny,whiny~

Kiba: R U 2 tired for sum drinks?

Lee: I’m tired, not dead, amigo.

Sakura: well, damn. Can we agree on something now FFS?

Ino: Calm down,S! 

Naruto: I thought we had already agreed on sumthing.

Tenten: Can we just not be 2 obvious while leaving the tent?

Sakura: I had suggested leaving 1 by 1 and meeting up.

Kiba: what about we dress like we going 4 a run?

Shino: hello guys

Sakura: i won’t enter a bar wearing sweatpants, dude.

Ino: like we don’t wear that everyday.BORRINNGG

Naruto: bring yr smexy outfit with u and change after

Tenten: dats a better idea

Sakura: so,what time?

Neji: 8?

Kiba: so we are back early and u can go 2 bed before daddy finds out?

Tenten: aww how about i read you a bedtime story as well?

Neji: ...i hate y’all

Naruto: 9. It’ll be 10 by the time we find a place.

Sakura: Cool! any objections?

Kiba: 9 ‘s fine.

Naruto: awesome! if somebody is later than 9,we’ll leave.

I stopped reading after that. I get exhausted just by reading their messages, I don’t want to know what it’ll be actually hanging out with them. I might have to make an excuse to leave early and I don’t care if they think I’m boring or an asshole. I felt like I’m trying hard enough just by agreeing to go out with them. It’s not even like they invited me anyway.

Since I refused to wear sports clothes, I just went through my stuff to see what I could wear that wouldn’t seem to casual or too elegant for a bar. We might as well end in a sports bar, which I would hate even more. I rummaged through my drawers and got a pair of jeans out, a light blue denim. From the clothes I hung,I dig out a button up dark blue casual shirt. And since it was cold I guess I’ll bring my black coat.I didn’t feel like putting a lot of effort into my outfit, I usually never do but I wanted to look presentable. I don’t think I dress that badly but it’s true I spend most of the time wearing exercise clothes. I walked to the bathroom and started the shower until the water was almost scolding hot. It felt good in my body as it relaxed my muscles and provided me with some relief from the soreness. It was getting better now that we weren’t training extra hours but because I haven’t rested for a full day since I got here, my body hasn’t got a needed break. I look forward to take it easy tomorrow after the review. I felt positive about it.I shampooed my hair and rinsed it. Then I poured some shower gel in my hand and rubbed it all over my chest, allowing the leather to travel further down.  
My thoughts started wandering about to Naruto and the memory of how his hands felt earlier, the weight of his body on mine.  
My body started to react and I realized it was the first time I got an erection while fantasizing. I usually get them in the mornings when I can’t really control it and don’t always do something about it, just when they don’t seem to go away and I’m in a hurry.   
I switched the water to cold and it didn’t take too long for my boner to go away. I came out of the shower soon after. After I dried myself, I went and laid down naked in my bed.  
My phone buzzed.

“If you are late,we’re leaving. 9pm. Meet u around the corner.”

“Okay,moron” I typed and sent it.

I laid in bed for a while, thinking about how to handle these strange thoughts before I decided to get dressed.

\-----  
When I was finally dressed, I walked outside of the tent. The cold night air hit my face, making me shiver. I saw nobody around but I kept walking until I saw some of the guys waiting some distance away. Sakura was there speaking to Naruto and Ino. Naruto was wearing an orange jacket, which was a weird choice of a color to wear to a bar. Lee was there as well as Neji,Tenten,Kiba and Shino.They were all dressed pretty casually, mostly wearing jeans,jackets and boots.

“Hey, there you are.” Sakura said when she saw me walking by. ”I’m glad you decided to come.”

“You look good.” Ino said.

“Thanks.” I replied.

“Do you guys know if Hinata is coming?” Naruto asked.

“She told me she would.” Kiba replied, and less then a minute after he said that, Hinata appeared running towards us.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I ran into Shizune on my way here.” she explained. Her face was flushed red, I wasn’t sure if because of the cold or because she ran all the way here.

“Let’s go then” Ino said. “I think I know of a place where we could go”

We started walking down the street. It must have been around a 30 minute walk until we were finally in a zone that seemed more lively. There were many restaurants and bars with loud music playing, and people were coming in and out of them. The flickering lights bothered my eyes.Naruto came close and kept walking besides me.

“ Still worried about getting in trouble?” he asked and smirked. His expression reminded me of that of a fox, for some reason. I shrugged in response. “ Try to have fun,will you?”

“This place shouldn’t be too crazy.” Ino said as she led us to a bar.

As we walked in,I saw that even though there was people in the bar, it wasn’t too crowded.   
The music was loud but not annoyingly so. As we already were kind of a big group, the place seemed ideal and nice enough. Some of the guys sat at a big table while Ino,Sakura, Kiba and Naruto sat on the bar, very close the their comrades’ table. I set on the bar but kept some distance, unlike Naruto and his friends that sat very close to each other. The bartender came to ask us what we were going to have.

“What are you drinking tonight?”Ino asked me.

“Beer.” I replied.

“Five beers, then.” she told the bartender.

“I want tequila.” Lee said.

“Aw, man, watch it, you don’t want to fall asleep during your review again tomorrow.” Kiba teased, and the rest of the cast members replied with an “Ooooooh”.

“I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again. Even I felt embarrassed that time.” Neji said, sighing.

“That was ONE time, you guys!” Lee moaned.

“Come on, guys. Let’s just have fun, alright?” Tenten exclaimed.

After we had all got our beers delivered, they cheered before we all started to drink. I could notice right away thet even though they all hung out together, they still divided into smaller groups that weren’t necessarily related to the acts they perform in. Lee, Neji and Tenten seemed to be close, as I usually saw them eating together. Even Kiba was sitting with Naruto at the moment, he seemed to be close to the aerialists, Hinata and Shino. Sakura and Ino spent a lot of time together. I wondered if they were a couple but thinking about it, I’ve never seen any PDA coming from them, so I guess they weren’t. The two of them as well as Naruto usually eat together at the cafeteria. He also seems close to Sakura. I wondered if he fancied her in other ways. Knowing that she’s close to him bothers me somehow. Just the thought made me want to drink more so as soon as I finished my beer, I asked for another and took a long swig.

“Easy on the beer,” Naruto said. “I don’t want to have to carry you on the way back.”

“Is that a tequila shot in front of you?” I asked, pointing to the shot glass on the table. “I would take your own advice if I was you.”

“Nobody can hold their liquor better than me.” he replied, smirking as if he was very proud of himself.

“It’s true though, the little asshole. Don’t ever challenge him on a drinking contest because you’ll end up on the floor and he’ll be totally fine.” Kiba butted in the conversation and put a hand on Naruto’s shoulder. “I actually feel sorry for your liver,man”

“I wouldn’t challenge him, believe me.” I replied.

“It’s all about the attitude you have while you’re drinking. That’s my theory. I drink when I’m happy and I feel great.” Naruto said. 

“I doubt that’s how it works but whatever.” I replied and took another swig.

“Hey, you guys! We’re ordering another round of beers! Do you want another one?” Sakura asked us. 

“I’ll have another one,” Naruto said. “Sasuke?”

“Sure.” I replied taking another long swig of my beer, finishing it. I can handle drinking beer so I thought I would stick to it.

The guys at the bar continued chatting animatedly, sometimes including me and sometimes not. Ino asked me if I had any siblings and I replied I have one brother. Sakura asked me when I started performing and I told her it’s been 9 years. Most of the time I spent sitting there, they just joked about stuff and teased each other. They all seemed to be having a good time with the other. I could see that they are like a family, unlike my previous experience in my work place, where most of them were courteous with the other because in reality they hated them. There were a lot of fights between the cast members at Orochimaru’s company, but at least they weren’t all like that.

After finishing their third beer, most of them started ordering shots. Since I wasn’t about to start drinking tequila,I just observed them and how they slowly started to act more loosely and became louder. When the bartender asked me if I wanted anything, I ordered another beer and paid in advance, deciding it was going to be the last I’d be drinking in the night. 

Naruto and Sakura were teasing Kiba about a time when his dog took a shit in Jiraiya’s tent and everybody laughed at that. It was one of their silly antics that of course, I felt completely excluded from. After they had drank their third shot, they had become annoyingly loud and I opted to take some distance from them, moving a bit further away from them.

I was standing there at the bar, drinking my beer when I felt a pair of arms embrace me from behind.. 

“Sasuke…” she whispered. I recognized her voice immediately.

“Karin.” I called. She let me go and I turned to face her. Suigetsu was standing behind her.

“You, of all people? In a bar? What are you doing here?” Suigetsu asked. “This is the last place where I would imagine running into you.”

“I didn’t even know you were still in town!” Karin exclaimed.

“Where’s Jugo?” I asked,in an attempt to change the subject.

“He didn’t want to come,” she answered while looking around the bar, ”hey, isn’t that Naruto Uzumaki?” she asked, pointing to where Naruto and Sakura were at the bar.

“Do you know him?” I asked.

“We’re distant relatives. We haven’t met in person but I have heard of him from my family. And who doesn’t know Minato and Kushina? They were legends back in the day,” she replied.

“You never told me that.” I said, somehow accusingly.

“ It never came up,” she replied, shrugging.

“ Aren’t those guys over there cast members of Hidden Leaf?” Suigetsu pointed out at the other guys sitting at a table.

“Are they all here?” Karin asked, surprised. “Wait, Sasuke, are you here with them?”

“You have to promise not to say anything.”

“Shut up!” she exclaimed.

“What the fuck, man?” Suigetsu said. “I can’t believe you left us to perform for them!”

“I can’t believe you didn’t have the balls to tell me!” Karin accused.

“ You can’t tell anybody, certainly not Orochimaru. I’m serious.” I told them.

“Honestly, your lack of trust in me is a little insulting,” she added, looking indeed mad.

“I thought you had said you needed a break,” Suigetsu accused.

“I needed a break from Orochimaru, not from working,” I responded. “I was very unhappy”

“You’ve always been a miserable bastard,” Suigetsu stated and I smirked at the use of Naruto’s prefered insult. “what’s so funny? You are so full of shit, Sasuke.” 

“This has nothing to do with you, guys.” I said.

“Fuck off. You always think only about yourself. I’m outta here, ” he said, upset. “Karin, let’s go.” he said, trying to pull her by the arm. 

“I’ll meet you outside in a moment. Go on,” she said and he did, walking to the exit. In their friendship, it’s really her who holds the reins. Nobody can tell her what to do.

“I’m sorry.” I said to her, when he was out of sight.

“Don’t mind him. He’s been drinking and he misses you. That’s why he acted like a brat.”

“I didn’t think about how this was going to affect the act.” I said feeling somehow ashamed with myself for being so selfish.

“The act is fine. We adapted it for three of us instead of four, but it’s basically the same,” she said and went to dig in her pants pocket and got her phone out.”Asshole...he’s calling me from outside,” she muttered and put her phone back inside her pocket. “ I gotta go. Too bad I didn’t have the chance to meet your new friends.”

“They aren’t really my friends.” I commented.

“Of course not. Let’s keep in touch, okay?” she hugged me before leaving. I hugged her back and she pecked me in the cheek before walking to the door.

I felt the urge to smoke a cigarette all of a sudden. I don’t so it often because of my training but I do get cravings now and then when I feel anxious. Just one should be alright. I went to the bar and got a pack of Lucky Strike’s and a lighter, finished my beer in one swig, then walked outside. 

I put a cigarette in my lips and lit it, inhaling the smoke in and enjoying the sensation while I exhaled. It was a cold night but I forgot to put my coat on before going outside. I shivered.

“You smoke?” Naruto’s incredulous voice asked as he handed me my coat. He must have seen me walk outside without it.

“On occasion,” I replied while I took my coat and put it on, “thanks.”

“I wouldn’t want you to get sick. It’s winter, after all,” he said, “can I bum one?” 

I handed him the pack of cigarettes and when he put it in his lips, I lit it. He coughed. Was he even a smoker? I chuckled.

“So you can laugh, after all,” he said and smirked. I rolled my eyes,”so...who was she?”

Oh, so he saw us. He was paying attention after all.

“Her name is Karin. She’s my previous partner, at Orochimaru’s company. I don’t know if you noticed but there was another guy as well. We were all in an act together, the three of us and another guy who wasn’t here today,” I told him.

“She’s pretty,” he commented. I wanted to tell him that Karin and him are distant relatives but refrained myself of doing so, “ and she likes you.”

“Well, we’ve known each other for a long time,” I said, matter of factly.

“You can be so oblivious sometimes,” he said and smirked, ”so, are you going to tell me the real reason why you left Orochimaru’s company? Don’t try to feed me that bullshit you told the guys the other day because I don’t buy it.”

So now he was acting pushy, I took a long drag of my cigarette. I decided to tell him in the end. He didn’t seem like he would tell anybody.

“It’s no secret that Orochimaru likes his boys young.” I said and disgust painted in Naruto’s face.

“ He should be put in jail,” he exclaimed, consternated, “that’s disgusting! Did he do anything to you?”

“Wait, listen to me. He isn’t a paedophile. He likes younger boys but not children…” I stopped myself and sighed. “He started to show special interest in me when I was 18...and it just escalated. He was always watching me, giving me special treatment and making advances at me and it made me extremely uncomfortable.”

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said, putting his hand in my forearm. It was the first time we touched outside of rehearsals. I resisted the urge to pull my arm back.

“It had been years since he started harassing me so that’s why I left,” I said while taking another drag. “I contacted Jiraiya a while ago and he said he would help me out. And he did.”

“ I didn’t know any of this,” he said,looking bummed out.

“Of course you didn’t. There’s no way you would have known about it. Don’t make that face.”

“ I’m not making a face,” he replied.

“Yes, you are. I don’t like to be pitied.” 

“I’m not pitying you.”

“Fine.”

“You know, you like to act like a bastard so nobody gets near you, so everybody keeps their distance from you but in reality, you are just a coward. You are afraid of people getting to know you,” he said while getting closer to me, “ you aren’t even looking me in the eyes. Look at me.”

I wanted to push him away but I didn’t. I looked at him, meeting his blue gaze adorned with fire.

“What do you want from me?” I whispered while his face started to come closer to mine.

“ You can’t fool me,” he whispered, his hot breath was dangerously close to mine, “I can see right through you…”

I pushed him back. I felt hot and dizzy and I suddenly just wanted to get away.

“I think I should get going,” I said, nervously trying to keep my voice under control, “you’re drunk.”

“No, I’m not,” he replied but I snorted and turned my back to him,”Sasuke, wait…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow. Good night” I said without turning back and started to walk. I wanted to get away from there as soon as possible.

I lit another cigarette on my way home. I had to stop him even though I wanted it to happen. I wanted to kiss him, badly. But not when he has been drinking and probably won’t remember about it tomorrow. And not before the premiere night. I wanted more time to think.

\-------

I laid down in bed completely dressed, looking at the roof of my trailer. It was freezing outside but inside the trailer it was quite the opposite, warm and cozy. I wasn’t tired at all and I decided to resume what I’ve wanted to do before I left, what I had wanted to start in the shower but was too embarrassed to carry on. I allowed my mind to recall the earlier events, Naruto bringing his body and his mouth close to me. Even when my everyday life includes our bodies touching, this night felt like one of us finally crossed the line and took the intimacy to a more personal level. I remembered his hot breath close to my face and the proximity of his body. I let myself fantasize about the other times where I’ve sneaked a peek of his body, where I’ve breathed in his smell and felt the warmth of his touch that burnt me even through my clothes.  
I imagined he was right there next to me, and my hand started caressing my neck, slowly going down to open the buttons of my shirt and lightly stroking my chest. My breathing became more shallow, and when my hand finally came down to unzip my jeans, I was already erect.   
I thought about him touching me and how smooth his skin would feel against mine, his breath ticklish in my neck. I started stroking myself, slowly at first but then, as the pleasurable sensation increased, I became more eager, looking for release. I didn’t have any lube so I put my fingers in my mouth and coated my fingers with my saliva and went back to touching myself, the wetness in my cock made the movements of my hand easier, increasing my lust even more. I continued fantasizing, imagining the sight of his naked body even though I haven’t seen him ever with his clothes off. I thought of him pleasuring himself and I increased the pace of my hand, and I saw white as my orgasm hit me. I laid there,with my eyes closed for a moment, embracing the sensation before coming back to my senses, staring at the sperm that now coated my hand and part of my chest. My phone buzzed from the bedside table and I saw an upcoming call from Naruto.I felt embarassed after marturbating thinking of him, so I decided not to take it. I got up to clean myself up and then changed to my sleeping clothes before going back to bed. My phone buzzed again after a few minutes, so I grabbed it and saw it was a text. I opened it.

“Can we talk?” it read. I sighed.

“Yes. Tomorrow.” I typed and hit ‘send’.

I felt strangely relaxed, probably from my earlier solo activity, so I just turned the lights off and laid there thinking about what would happen if I crossed the line with Naruto, if I took a step further. I fell asleep not too long after.

\-------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading through the end!  
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter (And Sasuke's solo sexy times)!  
> I'd love to read what you think about it.  
> Until the next update!
> 
> <3


	5. Naruto's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for the long wait. Life got in the middle! I have a job now (don't worry, I'm still writing, it's just slower) and my contortion training has also become more intense. What really took me a long time was to send it to my awesome beta Leportraitducadavre. I couldn't have done this without her!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this one and you don't find it too boring.
> 
> Thank you for all your support through this months and know that the chapters will keep coming, even if doesn't happn as often as I had planned.
> 
> Please follow me on Tumblr. My blog is ixtab-loves-me

Naruto’s POV

The first thing I felt when I opened my eyes the next day was my head pounding. I regretted immediately opening my eyes and I got up to close the curtain and came back to turn my stupid alarm off. I was so fucking hungover, for the first time in my life. I’ve never drunk that much as I did last night.  
I felt a wave of nausea run through me so I decided to lie down again as I checked my phone, noticing the unread messages I had. They were all from Sakura.

I MADE OUT WITH INO LAST NIGHT. I’M FREAKING OUT!!, the first message read. I couldn’t help but laugh even though I was feeling like shit.

“She left in the morning without waking me up Naruto. She probably hates me now.” 

Fucking finally! You guys SMASHED? Relax, she probably didn't want to wake you up. I sent.

NO WE DIDN’T DO IT JUST MADE OUT A BIT!!! But she spent the night in my room, she replied and before I could write anything else, she wrote again, She probably only did it because we were buzzed. I want to die right now.

CALM DOWN. Talk to her. She’s your friend FFS, I typed.

How are you btw?

Hungover AF. Thx 4 asking. Y did u let me drink so much?

U were so upset after Sasuke left. Wtf happened?

The usual. I made an ass outta myself

OMG what did u do!? LOL

Not saying anything 2 u. Go talk to yr woman and let me be miserable plz

Aw c’mon. Don’t be like that.

Got2 go. I feel sick atm, I typed and added a green faced dizzy emoticon before sending it.

I needed to shower and maybe try to eat something before the review. But I wished I could stay in bed all day. I’m not drinking again, ever. 

I fished inside my drawers for some aspirin but found the blister empty. So I just decided to go ahead and shower and just suck it up for the rest of the day

\------

When I got into the cafeteria, I decided to just get a banana since my stomach still felt upset after my night out drinking. I sat there playing with my phone and took small bites of the banana. I didn’t even feel like coffee so I just settled with some water.

“Rise and shine, goldilocks!” Kiba said, while walking up to my table,his plate full of eggs and bacon. The smell made me nauseous.

“Dude, could you keep your voice down? I have a terrible headache” I complained.

“Aw, I thought sunshine boy never got hungover” he mocked. 

“There’s always a first for everything, asshole” I replied.

“Are you ready for review day?” Hhe asked while chewing his food.

“Yes, I think I am.” I replied.

I saw Ino walk into the cafeteria, followed by the Sabaku siblings. I waved at Gaara and he nodded in my direction. Ino came back to join us at the table after picking something to eat and drink.

“Hello, Ino” I greeted.

“Oh. Hi Naruto” she replied, in the same tone as usual.

“How are you?” 

“I’m great. And you guys?” she sipped her coffee.

“I’m cool” Kiba answered.

“Hungover” I replied.

“I can imagine. You got trashed last night. What happened to you?” She asked.

“I don’t know. I felt like going wild.” I shrugged. “By the way,have you seen Sakura?” I asked innocently but I really just wanted to see her reaction.

“ Not since last night.” she replied nonchalantly, without giving anything away. No change in her tone or expression.

“ Oh, I see. I thought you might know. I’m going to go look for her.” I said and got up.

“Man, we just got here!” Kiba exclaimed.

“Sorry, dude. I really need an aspirin right now and I ran out. See you later guys” I excused myself. I really just wondered what Sakura was doing and decided it was best to go see her.

I left my tray and filled another coffee cup to take with me. I guessed Sakura could use one.

\------------  
As I walked to Sakura’s room,I hoped I didn’t run into Sasuke. I was still feeling like a fool after trying to kiss him last night. I was almost sure that I made him uncomfortable, I could just hope that he wasn’t actually disgusted by it and that a sincere apology would fix this. I had to assume that the chemistry that we had on stage was only something that I felt, that was probably in my imagination.

When I was standing at Sakura’s door,I knocked once without an answer. I knocked a second time.

“Who is it?” she asked without opening the door.

“It’s me. Open up” I replied.

“Naruto!” she exclaimed as she opened the door. “ Why are you here?” she asked, nervous.

“I didn’t see you at the cafeteria and wondered how you were doing,” I said as I extended the cup of coffee to her and she took it.” can I come in?”

“ Okay,” she said, after hesitating for a moment. 

“Are you alright?” I asked as I looked around her room and saw that she had different types of food from the cafeteria lying on her bed, as well as some empty wrappers, “I was worried you were going to be hungry but I see you are all packed.”

“I was starving but I didn’t want to run into Ino so I brought the food here.” she said as she put the coffee cup on her bedside table, then sat on her bed and picked up a piece of bread. “ I’m so nervous that I haven’t stopped eating in like an hour” she said,looking anxious.

“Calm down, girl.” I sat next to her and patted her shoulder. “What happened?”

“ Well,you know…” she said and took a big bite of the piece of bread in her hand, “wee cammf bafck andff…”

“Hey,don’t choke on that bread, have some coffee….” I suggested since I couldn’t understand what she was saying with her mouth full, and she did.

“We came back and ended up here and...I don’t know, we kissed….and then some more…and it got very intense suddenly. My head was spinning.”

“But who initiated it? Was it you or her?”

“I’m not sure….I guess it was mutual, but I don’t know, we had been drinking…” she put her face between her hands. “I’m so ashamed. I feel like I fucked up”

“Ino didn’t seem upset when I saw her earlier” I told her.

“YOU SAW HER?” she asked, raising her voice. I smirked.

“Yeah, I ran into her in the cafeteria before coming here” 

“Oh shit. Are you sure she didn’t seem upset?” she grabbed my forearm.

“She didn’t….but also when I asked her if she had seen you, she said she hadn’t since last night”

“Fuck my life!” she exclaimed, mortified.

“Don’t freak out, Sakura. Talk to her. She’s your friend, it’ll be alright” I assured her, she sighed and simply nodded.

“What about you? You didn’t tell me what happened last night.” 

“I made an ass out of myself” I replied while I rummaged through the snacks she had on her bed, founding a granola bar and grabbing it.

“Well, that’s not unusual. Could you be more specific?” she smirked. 

“Ouch.” I replied, but chuckled.

“So?” she insisted, eyeing me curiously.

“I tried to kiss Sasuke” I confessed.

“I fucking knew it!” she exclaimed and punched me in the shoulder. It hurt like a bitch so I rubbed it,trying to soothe it.” Hinata is going to be so heartbroken”

“Hinata? why?” I asked.

“She totally has the hots for you, for a while actually.” She stated.

“We barely speak to each other!...I mean,she’s a nice girl and all but…”

“Whatever,dude! Forget about that! Tell me everything about yesterday!” she said as she grabbed a pillow and hit me with it.

“ Well,you see...the key word there was ‘tried’” I said. “He rejected me”

“You think he’s not into dudes?” she asked.

“I don’t know. What do you think?”

“It’s strange. I’m not sure he gives off any kind of vibe, either gay or straight. But my gaydar sucks anyway.”

“Yeah, that’s true” I laughed and she smacked the back of my head. “Ouch! Why so aggro?”

She just sighed again, going back to looking defeated.

“I don’t think I can face Ino right now” she said, looking sad.

“Don’t be discouraged. It will be alright” I said, putting my arm around her shoulder. “You are best friends. Ask her how she feels about it”

“I suppose so…”

“And how do you feel about it?” I questioned.

“I liked it...a lot,actually,” she chuckled,her face showed a mixture between happiness and worry, “I actually feelt kind of relieved, you know? As soon as our lips touched, it was like everything made sense. I was a little confused before about my feelings, but the moment we kissed, I understood that I really fell for her.”

“Just talk to her. Promise?” I said as I extended my hand to her and wiggled my pinky finger.

“I guess I have no other choice.” she answered, intertwining her pink on mine. “What will you do?”

“I’ll do the same. I think I made Sasuke uncomfortable. He seemed like he wanted to run away from me at that moment. Seriously,Sakura, it was really bad”

“I’m sorry,” she said, “you really like him,don’t you?”

“I don’t know. It’s confusing...Is like I really don’t know much about him but I feel this ridiculous attraction towards him and I want to get to know him. I want him to talk to me and ask him stuff...and I want to perform with him because the feeling I get from our rehearsals is insane.Everytime we perform, it feels as if I get him, you know? As if we understood each other without saying a word.”

“It seems like your crush if evolving into something else”

“But I don’t really know him, you know? That’s what I’m trying to say. It’s crazy, the idea of developing feelings for somebody you don’t know well” I admitted, with frustration cursing my body.

“But you can get to know him. Although,he doesn’t seem very approachable” she said.

“What I need to do first is apologize. Then maybe we could work towards a friendship, but that would depend mostly on him. I would be happy just being able to keep working with him.”

“Is the act going really that well?”

“You are going to have to see it later” I smirked. “But yes, I think we have something good. Really good.”

“Can’t wait” she said and smiled.

\---------

The first time I saw Sasuke that day was when we ran into each other at the review. Everybody was there already when I arrived with Sakura. I had stayed with her after I visited her in her room, the company of each other helping us relax and forget a bit about what was making us uneasy. Sakura took me by the hand and squeezed it lightly, smiling at me. I smiled back at her, encouragingly before each went to sit at our respective places.  
When I was walking towards my partner and coach, I noticed Sasuke had his stare fixated on me. I sat next to them without saying anything.

Since the Old Pervert was already there, speaking with Shikamaru about something, I guessed it would be shortly before we started the review.I also saw the musician trio there.

Even though I was feeling very confident about our performance, I couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous. Sitting next to Sasuke and not saying anything to him was strange. He probably felt uneasy about what I did last night (or tried to do, anyway). I really need to talk to him before this escalates to something else. After Jiraiya took his seat, it was a moment before he finally started speaking.

“As you may know, this week a new member has joined the cast in the acrobalance act, in replacement for Gaara. I hope you have all welcomed him to the team. I take this chance to also welcome him again to our tents. Sasuke, we are all looking forward to work with you,” he said and nodded his head towards him. The other members clapped briefly before Shikamaru started the first video.

The more videos played, the more anxious I became. I had a good feeling about it but I still felt taken aback because of my last review. My leg became restless and I stared to the projection without really looking a it. A hand patted me on the shoulder, its paleness made me recognize it as being Sasuke’s. I turned to look at him.

“Calm down” he whispered, in a calm voice. “It’ll be alright.”

At least he’s talking to me still. I sighed and only nodded in reply.   
Since we don’t always follow a particular order during these video projections, this time Kiba’s act was the first. Or so I thought because I wasn’t paying attention. The Old pervert seemed pleased with his performance. I forced myself to be here and actually see what was being projected.  
The next act was Lee and Neji’s, which never failed to astound everybody with its precision and beauty. Jiraiya congratulated them.  
After them came the contortion trio and the improvement in their act was notorious. Their synchronization had improved and the final assembly looked amazing. Jiraiya congratulated them and the rest of the cast cheered a bit. I noticed Ino hugging Sakura and I smirked at this.  
Following theirs, came our act. I tensed with anticipation as soon as the video started playing. I held my breath at out image in the screen. I couldn’t deny we looked good together, we had an amazing chemistry just as Kakashi had said. I could feel it, of course but watching it as an spectator felt completely different. I felt amazed at our performance, at the way our bodies worked together as if they have been made for this, as if the only reason we existed was to achieve this product of beauty together. An immense feeling of satisfaction and well being invaded my body.   
When the video was over, everybody was quiet. Everybody turned to look at us as Jiraiya finally spoke.

“That is what I was talking about” he said and smiled. “Good job, guys”

I looked at Gaara and he also seemed satisfied and a bit surprised, an expression similar to the one he made when I saw him dancing the other day, his eyes wide. Sakura smiled at me and gave me a thumbs up. I finally turned to look at my performance partner. He was laying back, supporting his torso with his hands,his eyes were closed but he was smirking. He looked relieved. The other members cheered and I laughed as I also felt contentment coursing through my body. That’s why these guys are my family: we always support the other. Our coach patted both of us on the shoulder in a congratulating gesture.

I could barely pay attention to the next screenings, as excited as I was. Kankuro then Chouji followed after us. There was criticism for Kankuro’s performance and he didn’t hide the frustration he felt, sighing in defeat and letting his head fall between his hands.

“If you thought that working here was going to be easy,you can go pack your suitcases. Ask your parents. You need to be prepared to give a 150% of yourself to this show. If you think you aren’t ready to do that, go home. Go to college, become an accountant,” Jiraiya said sardonically, “ if your plan is to sit and whine, the circus isn’t for you.”

Everybody was quiet and Jiraiya asked Shikamaru to play the next video which was Shino and Hinata’s act. It received a few observations but was generally highly praised (as usual), same as Temari’s juggling fan act that followed.

After the review was over, almost everybody seemed to be in good spirits. Kankuro was sulking after his review but I know he’ll work hard and will do better next week. I felt so relieved and I was honestly ready to go so I didn’t have to talk to Sasuke just yet. I would work up the courage later.  
The Old Pervert stood up and cleared his throat, evidently to get all of our attentions.

“I’m very pleased with this week’s review. Next week all of you will need to work extra hard to perfect the last details of your respective acts. And we will start working in the rehearsal of the full assembly on the stage,alongside with the musicians and technicians. Today you’ll have your measurements taken for costumes, so please make some time to visit Sai’s tent before 5:00p. Next week we need to start working on some publicity, Asuma and I will discuss the marketing strategies first and then convoque another meeting with you to inform you of our options. Our goal is to sell all the tickets for the premiere night but also to maintain people’s interest in our show until it’s time to move to the next city. ” Asuma is our publicist, and Kurenai’s husband, after that Jiraiya added “That’s all for today but brace yourselves for the next weeks because there’s a lot of work to do. Enjoy your Sunday.”

And with that, we were dismissed. I saw Gaara walking up to me and I saw in him a way to avoid talking with my current act partner.

“Hey, Naruto,” he said, “congratulations.”

“Thank you, buddy. Have you spoken to the old man?”

“I actually was thinking of doing it now but I wanted to congratulate you first.” 

“Better go catch him before he leaves. It’s Sunday,after all.” I said, “Let me know how it went later”

“Alright.” He replied and left. 

When I noticed, Sasuke wasn’t there anymore. Everybody started to leave, so I did the same. 

\------  
I chilled in my trailer for a couple of hours, replied to some emails and checked my social media, not looking for anything is particular but just to pass time. When I realized it was already past three in the afternoon, I quickly got up and headed out.  
I walked to Sai’s tent,our costume and make-up designer. Even though he isn’t in charge of actually making the costumes anymore (the circus hires several seamstresses in each city we tour in), Sai arguments that he likes to take the measurements by himself because it helps him develop his design ideas better. He’s a very particular person and somehow awkward but nice enough. I like him even though he’s difficult to understand sometimes.

When I got there,I saw Temari and Kankuro leaving. I waved at them as they headed out and they just nodded in my direction, as usual, but this time I felt some hostility irradiating from the gesture. They probably know about last night. 

“Naruto,” called a familiar voice. I saw Sai standing there, wearing a black crop top and jeans, holding a tablet and a tape measure.

“Oh, hello Sai,” I replied, ” how’s it going?”

“Very well. A lot of work to do.” Sai is pale as a ghost with very dark hair and eyes. He actually reminds me a little of Sasuke. He didn’t waste any time in small talk and started taking my measurements with the tape measure he had in one hand. He measured my shoulders first.

“Who else has been here today?” I asked out of curiosity.

“ Forehead girl, Ino- pig and Ugly buns were here first, around midday,” he said as he wrote down the number on his tablet,” then Bushy brows and Pale eyes at 1:00 pm. After them came the Sabaku weirdos”

“Sai, what did I tell you last time about those nicknames?” I sighed as he measured my back. He again took his tablet and wrote them down.

“ As I understand, nicknames are usually given to people alluding to their physical traits,” he stated simply, unbothered as he measured my waist this time.

“It comes across as rude, Sai,” I explained, “sometimes it’s better if you just don’t comment on other people’s physical appearance even if they do have those traits. They could get offended.”

“Hmm…” He seemed to be thinking about it but I got the feeling he was more focused on what he was doing than what I was saying to him.” You look bloated,have you been eating a lot?”

“ What did I just tell you?” I exclaimed, “ and FYI, no, I haven’t been eating a lot, I just drank a bit last night”

“ So you got shitfaced,” he stated, “ I can tell.”

“Okay, yeah, I admit that I drank a bit too much,” I tell him, “ are we almost done here? I’d like to go back to my room and take a nap or something.”

“Almost.” he said, again writing stuff in his tablet, “ I thought we could hang out after I finish here today but I see you already have plans…”

Oh, was Sai asking me out? That’s awkward. With him I can never know if he means just hanging out or if he wants to go on a date since his facial expressions never give anything away. Before I could mutter an answer, we were interrupted by someone clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry to interrupt you,” said a familiar deep voice. Fuck my life, it was Sasuke. “I was looking for Sai’s tent.”

“I am Sai,” my friend replied while typing the last of my measurements, “I’m almost done here, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“ It’s alright.” Sasuke said and stood up there, looking at anything but me.

“ We are all done, Naruto.” Sai said, “I have an idea for a costume that will emphasize your physique.”

“Well, thank you, buddy.” I replied.

“I’m finished with Naruto,” Sai stated, “ and who are you, by the way?”

“I’m Sasuke Uchiha. I was cast as Gaara’s replacement in the upcoming show.” Sasuke replied as Sai started to measure his shoulders.

I decided to hang out there for a while longer, seeing this as the opportunity to speak to Sasuke afterwards and also because, knowing Sai, I was certain that he was going to say something that was likely to put Sasuke off.

“Oh, I see,” Sai murmured, “aren’t you glad that an accident could work in your advantage to join the company?”

“Not really. I’m glad I could join but I’m not happy that it was at somebody’s expense.” he seemed weirded out when he answered. Sai measured his waist next.

“ You have a small waist for a guy,” Sai exclaimed, “do you really have a penis?”

I couldn’t help but snort, trying to suppress a laugh.

“I’m sorry?” Sasuke asked, clearly uncomfortable so I decided to step in.

“Sai, buddy, remember what we talked about a while ago?” I stood next to him and patted him on the shoulder,” we don’t ask other people about their genitalia. It’s not polite.”

“Oh, right,” he let it sink in before saying, “my apologies, Sasuke.”

“It’s fine.” he replied, still looking puzzled.

The rest of Sasuke’s measurements were taken in silence. I looked around the room, looking at Sai’s sketches that were spread over his table and a big board. He is quite the artistic guy, his eye for beauty and creativity has been helping our show for two years and even though he’s awkward,I can see him staying with us for a long time.

“We are finished,” he said as soon as he stopped adding the information in his tablet,”I’m going to design matching costumes for you. I had an idea that I was planning for Gaara but now that I’ve met you, I don’t think it will work for you.”

“You are the expert. Whatever you think will work.” Sasuke voiced.

“That’s right.” Sai added, without any modesty. “See you soon.”

We said goodbye and walked out of Sai’s tent.

“What’s this guy’s problem?” Sasuke asked me as he started walking and I just followed him along.

“Don’t take it personal. You see, Sai isn’t a bad person and he’s brilliant but he has trouble interpreting other people’s expressions and has no filters, which means he tends to make inappropriate comments that come across as being rude or offensive,” I explained.

“No shit!” he exclaimed.

“He is very smart though,” I added, “just a little awkward in his interactions with others.”

“I understand.” he replied.

“Are we going somewhere?” I asked awkwardly since I was just following his steps.

“I was going to my room,” he stopped moving suddenly and looked at me, “are you going somewhere?”

“Oh,” I rubbed my head, embarrassed, “I just thought we had a pending talk.”

“ About what?” he asked but it was obvious he just wanted to dismiss me and end the conversation before it even started.

“About last night.” 

“It’s fine,” he avoided looking at my face. “Nothing happened, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Can you listen to me, for a second?” I asked him and he just stood there, finally bringing his eyes back to me, “I’m sorry,okay? I drank a little too much and acted out of impulse. I never meant to make you uncomfortable.”

He stared at me, without saying anything so I took a chance to continue speaking.

“I’m actually very sorry that I made an ass out of myself,” I felt the need to be sincere, but without saying anything about the crazy physical attraction I felt towards him, instead I used work as a cover up,”and I also don’t want to ruin the act by making things awkward between us.”

“I understand,” he sighed and run his hands through his hair. I wondered of he did that when he was nervous, “you don’t have to apologize.”

“I feel like I do, though.” 

“No, it’s alright,” he replied and then just stood there without saying anything. We fell into a pregnant silence.

“ I would like if we could be friends.” I threw it out there because that’s really how I felt, I wanted to know more about him so I could understand him better. 

“Okay.” He simply replied.

“What do I have to do to get a full sentence out of that mouth of yours?” I exclaimed, a bit exasperated.

“I don’t know what else I was supposed to say.”

“Okay,fine. Would you like to hang out?” I saw this as a chance to speak to him more.

“It seemed like Sai was very keen on hanging out with you.” he said,raising an eyebrow.

“But I’m asking you, not him,” I rolled my eyes,” but it’s fine if you don’t want to.”

“What do you want to do?” he asked suspiciously. What does he think I’m going to do to him? Jeez, I must have looked like a predator to him last night.

“I thought we could go for a cup of coffee. Or maybe for a walk.” I shrugged. 

“Okay,” he accepted after thinking about it for a moment.”I wouldn’t mind going for a cup of coffee.”

“Awesome! I need to pick up my wallet back in my room but would you like to meet at the entrance in, let’s say, half an hour?” I couldn’t help feeling happy that he accepted so I must have been smiling like a dork at the moment.

“Sure, that’s cool.” He replied.

“Wicked! See you later then!” I waved him goodbye as I walked fast to my room,I looked back until I couldn’t see him anymore and started running.

When I got to my room, I fiddled with the key for a moment before I could finally open the door. My hands were shaking from the running (or maybe excitement?) and a soon as I was inside, I went to the bathroom to make sure my hair looked alright. I also brushed my teeth. I smelled my t-shirt to make sure it didn’t smell bad, and although it didn’t, I decided to change anyway. I picked an orange t-shirt and put on a jacket on top (it’s still winter after all), grabbed my phone and my wallet, and ran out again to meet him at the entrance. I guess I must have been quick but Sasuke still wasn’t there. I stood there, waiting for him, trying not to look too eager. 

This day had turned out to be pretty good: we did well on the review, Sasuke wasn’t angry or grossed out by my behaviour from last night and had agreed to hang out. At this point there wasn’t anything that would made me feel anything but positive and cheery. I felt more like my usual self. I started playing with my phone,scrolling down on Facebook.  
He showed up after a few minutes.

“Hey,you’re early,” he said, I noticed he was wearing the same clothes as earlier but he had just put a hoodie on.

“Hey,” I put my phone back in the pocket of my jeans, “I haven’t been waiting for long.”

“So, where would you like to go?” 

“Well, we could walk around and look out for a coffee shop” I suggested. We started walking towards the street.

“I think I know of one. I usually to pass by it when I go for a run.” he said.

“We could check it out,” I put my hands inside my jacket’s pockets as I walked. For some reason that made me feel less exhilarated.

It was a chilly afternoon and the cold breeze made my nose feel itchy. I hoped I wouldn’t sneeze. We didn’t speak much for the first part of the road. The street was almost empty which only served to accentuate the fact that there seemed to be an awkward silence going on between us. I only felt relieved when we walked into a busier street with lots of businesses and people being loud. I had recovered from my hangover but I still preferred to be in a more relaxed environment. 

“This is it.” Sasuke pointed out to a coffee shop located on the corner across the street from where we were. It was small and it seemed promising.

We went in and I felt comfortable immediately. There were very few tables, the music wasn’t loud and the coffee smelled good. It was also warm and quiet.

“This place is perfect,” I commented,”just what I needed.”

“Still hungover from last night?”

“Please, don’t remind me of that.” I scratched my head in embarrassment.

“Let’s sit there.” He walked over to a table on a corner, kind of secluded from the rest.

I followed him and sat down. I took my jacket off and hung it in the back of my chair.

“You must really like the color orange,” he murmured.

“Oh...yes, it’s my favorite.” I replied.

“Almost everytime I see you, you are wearing something orange,” he remarked.

“ How could you notice that?” I was actually surprised that he had been paying enough attention to me.

“How could one not notice anybody wearing bright orange clothes?” he added, looking amused.

“I guess you have a point there,” I felt silly again for not thinking about the obvious.

“Idiot.” He said and chuckled. The insult didn’t feel mean at all.

I was about to say something when the waitress interrupted us, asking what we wanted to drink. Sasuke ordered black coffee and I ordered cafe au lait. 

“So,uh, did you always want to work in a circus?” I asked in a lame attempt to initiate a conversation. I didn’t know what was okay or not to ask, so I decided to just go for something that in my mind seemed harmless.

“ I did gymnastics first, starting when I was eight years old. The circus just seemed like the next step after that. So some time later I auditioned to join Orochimaru’s company and I got in,” he said,blatantly, “what about you?”

“I was born at Hidden Leaf. My parents were traveling with it already so my early memories are about them rehearsing,” I suddenly felt nostalgic about my family but I continued speaking,”it’s not like they imposed anything on me. I just loved it, everything about it. Even feeling the soreness after working out and preparing for a new show because I know the cause is that I’m aiming towards creating something beautiful, a show that will give the audience joy.”

“That’s an interesting way of looking at it.” he commented as we were interrupted with the waitress bringing our coffee to the table. She told us to let her know if we needed anything else and with that, she left.

“I love when I finish a performance and I hear the crowd clapping and cheering. It makes me feel recognized and I find that enjoyable.” I admit.

“So you never wondered what it would be like to have a normal adolescence?” Sasuke sipped his coffee as he waited for my reply. I thought about it before answering.

“Not really. I mean,I don’t see myself doing anything else. It does get kind of lonely,sometimes...I was used to travel with my parents until they retired,then cast became my family.”

“All of you seem very close,” he pointed out,”Sakura seems to be very fond of you.”

Wait, does he think that Sakura and I have something going on? 

“If you think she has some kind of romantic interest in me, you couldn’t be more wrong,” I felt the urge to laugh but contained myself, “ we are good friends, that’s all.Anyway, what about you?”

“What about me?” he raised an eyebrow.

“What about your family? Do you speak to them? Do you miss them?” 

“I don’t speak to them often and I don’t think I miss them that much. My parents weren’t very supportive in my choice to work on the circus.I do miss my brother, though.”

“Oh, you have siblings!”

“Only one.”

“I assume you get along well,then”

“Yeah,” a small smile drew on his lips, “he actually said he is planning on coming to the opening night.”

“ How cool!” I exclaimed.

“He also knows Hidden Leaf’s musicians, Konan,Yahiko and Nagato.”

“Seriously?! How do they know each other?”

“They went to high school together.”

“That’s a huge coincidence!” I exclaimed.

“Not really.Both these companies originated in the same city, after all,” he sipped his coffee,”anyway, my brother wanted to be a musician as well.”

“But he isn’t.”

“No, he’s a lawyer,” he stated then added, “only one of us could play the role of our family’s disappointment and that was me.He decided to do what my parents expected of him, and needless to say, they are very proud of him.”

I didn’t know what to tell him, so I just stared at my coffee for a moment. I have never known what it’s like to have my parents disapprove of what I do, of my goals. And not only because I followed their steps but because we are a close family with no secrets, who support each other unconditionally and I know that even if I had decided to live and have a job outside the circus, they would have been supportive of me as long as I was happy. I couldn’t relate to Sasuke on this at all so I was at a loss of words. How can you try to comfort someone who obviously feels lonely? I could tell by his expression at the moment that he felt somehow pushed aside just because he decided to have an non-conventional job, he didn’t have to voice it. 

“What about you?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence and bringing me back from my thoughts. 

“Sorry, what?”

“Do you have any siblings?” he clarified.

“Oh, no. I’m an only child.”

“I thought so.”

“And why is that?”

“You seem like you were spoiled as a child,” he stated

“Why are you such a bastard sometimes?” I wasn’t really offended by his statement and I chuckled, “I wasn’t spoiled, just loved.”

Sasuke seemed pensative for a moment and then muttered, “So that must be it, then.”

“Can I ask you something now?” he nodded in reply, “what’s the real reason you decided to join the circus? Be honest.”

“I really love performing. I like the precision and the perseverance and discipline acrobatics require…” he paused, as if trying to find the right words to describe his thoughts,”if I think about it, the public doesn’t matter much to me because when I’m on stage, is as if everything else disappears. I could as well be alone.”

“That sounds kind of...tragic” I said. I couldn’t imagine that kind of performance, the one that is beautiful in its precision but dull in his lack of spirit. I remember when Sasuke first arrived in our tent, his performance seemed odd and not because he was clumsy but because he looked empty,without fire. But something changed after that and during this week with each day that passed, he seemed like a new person. When he performs,that is.

“It’s not tragic. It’s just what happens when you are unhappy at the company you’re in,” he shrugged, “I think changing companies was the best decision I could’ve made regarding my career.”

“Orochimaru’s company sounds pretty….awful,” I tell him and he gave away a small laugh.

“It sometimes got awful. Unlike here, most of the cast was in bad terms with the other,” he added, “but except for Orochimaru being a creep,it wasn’t that bad.”

“But you got along with your act partners,right?”

“They were alright...most of the time.”

“You are antisocial,” I stated.

“I prefer to think that I just like to keep to myself a lot,”

“I can’t imagine how much fun you’ll have during our publicity gigs,” I teased, “you’ll love all the kids asking you to carry them on your shoulders,” I laughed at the mere thought.

“I was a kid once, you know,” he replied,“what do you usually do for publicity?”

“Go to public places, places that are popular, like parks. Also TV interviews and appearances, we let them get in the tent during rehearsals and talk to the cast.”

“You probably love that, don’t you?” he said with a knowing smirk.

“Of course! It’s a lot of fun!” I smiled, “and I assume you hate it.”

“I understand the importance of publicity but you are right, I’m not a huge fan of TV interviews, I just never know what to say,” he paused then added, “I guess my days of hiding from Orochimaru are soon to be over,” he sighed and I just thought to myself ‘how crazy is this man?’.

“Do you think he’ll do something?” I asked concerned,“like threaten you or the show?”

“I don’t know. One can never really predict Orochimaru,” he played around with his now empty coffee cup, “but maybe it’ll be alright. He is old friends with Jiraiya,after all.”

“Yeah and Granny would kick his ass if he did anything to harm you or anybody from the cast. She’s a martial arts expert, did you know that?” 

He snorted. “No,I did not know that. I don’t believe you” he said but not accusingly, he seemed rather amused.

“It’s true! Ask anybody.”

“Maybe I will.” he replied.

“They are good people, you know? The other cast members. They have become my family and I’m sure they could become yours, too. If you’ll allow them, that is.”

“I don’t dislike them,”

“Kiba can be a pain in the ass sometimes but he isn’t a bad dude. Ino and Sakura are super fun to be around. Gaara doesn’t speak much but he’s an awesome guy. He reminds me a bit of you,actually.”

“So you think I’m an awesome guy?” he smirked. Damn, he is acting cocky now.

“ You are both very talented and dedicated. And also reliable.” I looked at him even though I was feeling shy at the admission, “I enjoy performing with you.”

“Thank you,” he replied after a moment of silence. If only I could read his thoughts.

There were so many other things that I wanted to ask him, so much more I wanted to know about him. But I didn’t want to be intrusive or pushy, so I just stared down at my empty coffee cup, hoping that he would initiate conversation this time. It might have been less than 5 minutes, but it felt eternal.

“ You are awfully quiet,” he stated finally,”it’s so unlike you.”

“ Sorry, I know I speak too much and mostly about myself. It must be exhausting listening to me.”

“It’s fine,” he said dryly, “do you want to ask for the check?”

“Yeah, I suppose,” I replied, slightly disappointed at his sudden disengagement. 

I called the waiter and she came back with our check. I took my wallet out of my pocket and saw Sasuke doing the same.

“No, it’s my treat,” I told him,”I was the one who asked you.”

“I’ve got my own money,Naruto.”

“ No way. I’ll get it today. You can get it next time.” I blurted out,hopeful that it would be a next time, feeling a bit dumb for it. It’s not like this had been a date or anything.

Sasuke seemed pensative, but indulged.me in the end.

“Fine.” he muttered in resignation.

It was getting dark when we left the cafe and we walked most of our way back in silence. But it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was comfortable, the kind of silence you share with an old friend,when you have no need to pass the time with small, meaningless talk.   
Even when I knew we had some though weeks ahead of us, I felt completely relaxed at that moment. The next days were full of promise and I was more than happy to receive whatever they brought with them.

\-------


	6. Sasuke's POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. Yes, I know it took me too damn long. First, I was super busy at work as a trainee. Then I enrolled in an intensive contortion and acrobalance course and started training 5 days a week, getting back home until 10:30 pm after been out of the house since 7:30 am. So you can just imagine. I also had some rough times in my personal life and some difficult situations that made me depressed (even more so, if you can imagine) and I just didn't feel like writing. After that, I moved to a new apartment, about 2 months ago and I didn't have enough money to hire internet. Until this past Friday.  
> This chapter has been written for months but I haven't been able to upload it until now.  
> I want to dedicate this chapter to Uchihanochidori, who beat'ed most of the chapter an who is also the author of my favorite SNS Canon divergence fanfic. This one is for you, darling!
> 
> Anyway, thanks to anybody who read this fic and for following it. It means a lot to me. Please follow me on Tumblr, you can find me as http://ixtab-loves-me.tumblr.com.
> 
> If you would like to support my work, you can buy me a Coffee! https://ko-fi.com/J3J66BEY

Sasuke POV

I couldn’t tell Naruto that the fact that I had improved as a performer was because I had met him, because I had the chance to become his partner. It was easier to blame it on my unhappiness at Orochimaru’s company, but the truth was that I had never felt anything similar to what I felt now while working in an act that wasn’t a solo, and even then, the joy I had felt from performing perfectly paled in comparison to the feelings that I experienced while performing with him. No, I couldn’t admit that out loud. It was amazing that somebody who I just met had the power to awaken these new sensations; to change me and the way I see things,all for the better.

Naruto is like the sun, like the sunshine you are grateful for during a cold, dark winter.

Back in my room, I wished I could’ve spoken to him for longer. I was curious about him. His whole persona intrigued me, maybe because he’s the polar opposite of me, so extroverted and outspoken. I regretted not telling him that I think he is a good performer,and very talented acrobat that I also enjoy performing with him. For some reason, I just couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud.  
I thought I could text him.

‘I like performing with you, too. Thx for the coffee’ I typed, but it took me about ten minutes to actually gather up the courage to send it.

His reply was almost immediate.

‘Would it kill you to say a compliment now and then, bastard?’ 

I didn’t reply to his last text and instead put my phone in my night table and turned the lights off, closing my eyes.

\--------

I opened my eyes three hours before my alarm rang and I also kept waking up through the whole night. It was not unusual for me to have insomnia, but these past days I had been sleeping alright, most likely due to exhaustion. I tried to close my eyes again with the intention of going back to sleep, but the fact that it was the beginning of a new week, a week closer to the opening night, didn’t help me. Defeated, I decided to take a shower and go to the cafeteria to grab some coffee and maybe read something on my phone’s reading app.

I felt less miserable as soon as the warm water touched my body. I stayed immobile there, just letting the water work its magic, and some time later I was already wrapping the towel around my waist and brushing my teeth before leaving the bathroom.

It was slightly chilly in my room. I picked my training clothes plus a pair of leg warmers and a back warmer. I put a hoodie on and walked out of my trailer, locking the door behind me.

There was only one person in the cafeteria, and by the expression on her face, she was more asleep than awake.

“Hey, Sakura,” I greeted, and she jumped awake, startled by the sound of my voice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“ Oh, hi Sasuke,” she replied, “What are you doing here so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

“I had back pain so I went to see Tsunade a moment ago.”

“Did you injure yourself?” 

“No, it’s just from overworking.” She shrugged.

“Wasn’t yesterday supposed to be our day off? You seemed fine on Saturday night.”

“I trained extra hours yesterday afternoon,” she admitted, “And I guess I got too carried away.”

“You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself,” I said, “Your act is already pretty solid.”

“I’m not that worried about it. I just had other things on my mind, and training distracts me from thinking about certain stuff that I would like to avoid.”

She seemed bummed. Did I want to ask her what was bothering her? Not really, but I didn’t want to seem rude either so I tried to think about something to say to either change the subject or make her feel better.

“Would you like some more coffee?” I gestured towards the empty cup in front of her, “I was going to get some for myself.” 

“Please,” she said, handing me her cup. 

I filled two cups, one for her and one for myself, and walked back to the table. I sat in front of her and handed her the cup. I didn’t know what to say to her so I just sat there. She looked like a ghost when she grabbed the cup and sipped it.

“I didn’t know how you drink your coffee, so I just brought you black,” I said.

“Black is fine, thanks,” she replied, “I don’t want to sound mean… but you look terrible.”

“I know,” I agreed, “I feel terrible.”

“Me, too. I think we could use some chocolate.” She took a chocolate bar out of her jacket, unwrapped it and offered me some.

“I don’t know if I should be eating that.” I eyed the chocolate bar. I’m not really a fan of sweet things.

“Soon you’re going to be training twice as much a day. Chill out.” She smirked. I sighed and took a piece of the candy, “You know, Anko is going to be the one choreographing the assembly for all the cast at the beginning and end of the show. It’s going to be tough shit.”

“I did not know. She’s your coach, right?”

“Yes, the rest of the coaches will be there as well but she’ll be the choreographer, officially.” Sakura chewed on her chocolate and took another swig of her coffee. “Tthen in two months, we’ll be touring in another city.”

“Yeah, I’m familiarized with that.”

I have gone on tour with the circus for years, just not with this company. We shared an uncomfortable silence for a moment.

“Is your family coming to the premiere night?” Sakura asked.

“Maybe just my brother.” 

“I’m not sure mine will. They are always so busy and they don’t love the fact that I chose to work here instead of going to college.” She sighed. I wanted to chuckle, but refrained from doing so.

“What do they do?” I asked her. It seemed like both her and I have something in common.I didn’t know she wasn’t born into the circus.

“They’re doctors,” she answered. “Why?”

“I come from a family of lawyers,” I replied, and she laughed.

“Seriously? And they disapprove of your career path, I assume.”

“You could say that.”

“So you and I are the only cast members in Hidden Leaf who aren’t circus babies. How funny.”

Somebody else entered the cafeteria, stomping and whistling. I turned around and saw Chouji, one of the guys doing the comedy acts. He seemed to be in a good mood when he approached us. One of his hands was hidden behind his back, which I thought was strange.

“Good morning,my friends,” he greeted us.

“Hello Chouji, what’s up? You seem to be in a good mood so early in the morning,” Sakura said.

“Not much. I was just craving some early snacks,” he replied, “And on my way here I ran into somebody who asked me to give you this.” He pulled out a white flower from behind his back and laid it before her on the table.

Her eyes showed a slight hint of surprise but she quickly regained her composure and her expression went back to normal.

“Oh? And who might that be?” She asked him, almost indifferently as she eyed the flower. It was almost comical. I could almost certainly say she knew who sent it to her, but decided to play indiferent.

“I can’t tell you,” he smirked. “A secret admirer, I suppose.”

“Well, thank you for delivering it to me,” she said. I wondered how he knew she was at the cafeteria since it’s very early and there isn’t anybody around.

“No problem! See you around!” And with that, Chouji turned around and walked straight to the food trays. 

“Do you know anything about flowers, Sasuke?” Sakura asked as she picked up the flower.

“No,” I replied, honestly. “Do you know what kind of flower it is?”

“It’s a white lily,” she replied while looking at it. She seemed to get lost in her own thoughts.

“Do you know who might have sent it?” I honestly didn’t care, but I thought I would ask. Her demeanor had changed completely after Chouji gave the flower to her. She still seemed tired, but somehow more relaxed.

“I have no idea,” she replied, and it was obviously a lie. Her lips curved into a small smile, then she sighed. 

I didn’t know what else to say so, after a moment, I decided to get another cup of coffee. I asked if she wanted another, but she declined, still looking at the flower in her hand. I opted for taking the coffee to my room, so I said goodbye to her and left.

\------  
After seeing Sakura acting that way, I suddenly felt lonely, something that is quite unusual for someone who spends most of his time alone. When you are close to a premiere and spend so much time training, it can be difficult to find time for hobbies. In my case, the other thing that I enjoyed doing was reading and that is obviously a very solitary activity. I am a person who enjoys silence and it was that same reason why yearning for somebody’s company is not usual for me. Suddenly my days have been filled with noise and lots of joking around and laughter, so opposed to what I’m used to. My act partner it’s like the sun, he shines and causes everything surrounding him to come back to life. I can’t believe the effect that blond idiot has on me. I want to be his friend but at the same time I don’t know how to deal with these other emotions, the desire I feel for his body. 

I stopped myself before I started thinking about that. I don’t want my thoughts to go in that direction again, and specially not now that I feel this tired due my lack of sleep. I decided instead to call my brother,I haven't heard his voice in a while and I miss him since he is the only family member that I’m still in contact with.

I looked for his contact in my phone and pressed ‘call'. It was still early so the time difference shouldn’t be a problem. The phone rang a few times until he picked up.

“Sasuke,” Itachi said.

“Hello. Is it a bad time?” 

“No, no. I was going through some paperwork but it’s fine. I wasn’t expecting you to call.”

“I couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d say hi. How’s everything going?”

“Everything is fine. Busy, as usual. How’s the training going?”

“It’s great, actually. We got good reviews in yesterday’s critique.”

“That’s great. You must be very proud of yourself. Is your partner still being a pain in the ass?”

“No, he is… alright,” I admitted. I haven’t told my brother much about Naruto, except that he got on my nerves often.

“Is there anything else you’re not telling me?” He asked. Sometimes I hate the fact that he knows me too well that he can even tell from my tone when I’m omitting information from him.

“No, I’m just exhausted, that’s all.” Well, that wasn’t a total lie.

“Make sure to not overwork yourself and that you eat properly,” he advised. “I know you are under a lot of pressure, but choosing to move to another company is the best decision you could’ve made for your career. I am very proud of you.”

“You are coming to the premiere, right?” I couldn’t help but smile. Knowing that my brother believes in me definitely helps motivate me.

“I wouldn’t miss my little brother’s new performance. And I look forward to seeing my old pals from school, as well.”

“I’ll send you the tickets as soon as I have them.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he replied.

“I’m going to have an insane couple of weeks but I’ll keep in touch,” I promised. “I’ll leave you to your work.”

“Sasuke, just one thing before we hang up-” I already knew what he was going to say. “Could you call mom and dad now and then? I know they don’t say much, but I know that they miss you.”

“I used to always send them tickets, you know? Hoping that they would come to one of the shows to see me perform. But that was a while ago. I can’t be bothered anymore.”

“Just try, okay? They’ll come to their senses someday.”

“Fine,” I replied, finally, but I had no intention to actually call them. “Talk to you soon.”

“Goodbye, Sasuke.”

After that, I hung up.

\------   
I went back to the cafeteria later to grab some breakfast, but I only saw the Sabaku siblings eating. It was later than usual, so I assumed everybody else had eaten earlier. 

After having a breakfast of eggs on toast with tomatoes, I went to the training room.

Naruto was there and Kakashi wasn’t, as usual. My partner was on the floor, stretching his middle splits. His face lit up when he saw me.

“Hey you!” He exclaimed.

“Hey,” I replied. I couldn’t help but yawn,covering my mouth while doing so.

“You look terrible,” he pointed out, “You have dark circles under your eyes.”

“Yeah. I had some trouble sleeping.”

“You need to rest. You don’t want exhaustion to affect your training.”

I just nodded as I joined him on the floor to stretch. My leg muscles felt tight but I breathed deeply to try and relax. The worst thing one can do while stretching is not breathing and being tense. Even after all the time I have been doing this, my tendons tend to tighten up now and then and even more so in cold season. I am looking forward to a warmer weather.

“Good morning, guys,” Kakashi said while entering the room, “are you warmed up already or do you need more time?”

“I’m good,” Naruto replied.

“I need a little more time,” I replied.

“Are you having trouble with your middle splits again?” Kakashi asked.

“It’s the weather, it just takes longer.”

“It’s fine, it’s still early,” he said. He was carrying his iPad with him, as usual. He used it to take video or play music and he started fiddling with it,” I just wanted to tell you that I am really proud of both of you for yesterday’s review. As you both know, these next weeks are going to be tough, and I need you to be very driven and focused. Fortunately for you, you already have the act, but we need to work on your entrance and exit of the stage and bring everything together.”

“Do you know when the marketing meeting with Asuma and the Old Pervert will be?” Naruto asked.

“First of all, he’s not an old pervert. He’s a genius,” Kakashi answered, shaking his head.  
“And second, no, I don’t know. It must be sometime this week. What I do know is that Anko is going to be in charge of choreographing the assembly.”

“Oh, no! FML!” Naruto exclaimed. “Not again.”

“Why is that a problem?” I asked, confused.

“She’s totally hardcore. We’ll be dead before the premiere,” Naruto replied.

“She’s going to shape you all up, that’s for sure,” Kakashi added, laughing.

“Good news is: if you can survive Anko, you can survive anything,” Naruto said.

“Hey, don’t scare the poor guy. He already worked for Orochimaru,” Kakashi joked.

Naruto’s demeanor changed instantly as he suddenly turned serious and stared at the wall. Did what I said about Orochimaru bother him? It has nothing to do with him really. I can’t imagine what goes on inside his head right now. 

I finally finished warming up and got back on my feet and Naruto did the same.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked Naruto.

“Yeah, peachin’” he replied.

“Well, since you seem to be ready, we can start. I want you, Naruto, to stand on the right and Sasuke, you’ll be on the left. This is going to be a simple choreography but we’ll might have to modify things here and there while Jiraiya defines the order of the acts,” Kakashi instructed.

We did just as we were instructed, each standing on a corner of the training room.  
He gave some more instructions for the steps, (insert research here)

We did that and then we performed our act again. I didn’t go well, I felt particularly clumsy. Kakashi shook his head in disapproval.

“Stop!” He yelled. “This isn’t looking so good today. Not because you had good reviews means you can slack off,” he didn’t say my name but he looked at me.

I wasn’t about to give up, and I certainly didn’t want to drag my partner down with me.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Naruto asked.

“Yes, I am, moron,” I replied.

“ Let’s do this again. From the beginning,” our coach commanded.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus. I was going to need another cup of coffee as soon as we had a break. I managed to let myself go and enjoy what I was doing. I couldn’t risk putting Naruto in danger when he was a flyer due to my lack of concentration because whenever he is up there, he’s my responsibility. I enjoyed acting as base with him, carrying the weight of his body and the expression on his face, completely focused. I needed to be stable for him. We executed our figures and the movements that joined them together. 

“It’s better, but still not quite convincing. You know what is the most attractive quality of your act? It’s that it exudes sensuality. You managed it before, but you aren’t quite getting it now. Our training hours are going to double in the next weeks and you are going to have to put your health as a priority, make sure that you eat and sleep enough. If you feel the stress is too much to handle, pay a visit to Shizune or Tsunade. The more reason if you have any pain in your body,get regular check ups with them,” Kakashi said.

Kakashi’s recommendations seemed quite obvious because the emotional and physical stress can cause a lot of trouble if you don’t tend them properly. 

My experience of premiere nights has always been a nightmare. Lots of fighting and snapping at each other due to the pressure from the upcoming show. The satisfaccion that the premiere show gives us is short lived because most of us pass out due to exhaustion as soon as we have the chance to go back to our rooms, sometimes even without taking our makeup off. That’s just the truth, there’s not a lot of glam at premiere nights.

We repeated the same for a few times before working on the finale. It took us hours to have everything ready, but by then we were both too exhausted, and my shoulder had started hurting. Even Kakashi seemed exhausted, and maybe a little bit bored. I wondered why he wasn’t performing anymore since he was still young. 

Before leaving, we agreed on meeting again later in the afternoon.

I guessed paying a visit to Tsunade after eating something didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

\-----  
When we left the training room, Naruto and I walked to the cafeteria. He also looked terribly exhausted, but somehow still radiant. His physical stamina has always been unbelievable. I wondered where he gets all his energy. 

“I could eat 10 bowls of ramen right now,” he said while stretching his arms. He was sweaty, and I found that... somehow attractive. I urged myself to not stare at him. I felt like an idiot.

“Where would you get that from, moron?” I narrowed my eyes.

“There are places, bastard. And I happen to know some,” he replied, “But right now I’ll eat whatever they have in the cafeteria. I’m ravenous.”

Luckily for us, our options were quite varied. I took a tray and a plate and opted for a piece of salmon, some rice, asparaguses and a bowl of tomato soup. The moron, who stood beside me, looked at my food choice with disgust.

“Seriously, bastard? Tomato soup? That’s like baby food,” he teased.

“What about your meal?” I remarked, pointing out to the big piece of steak on his plate. “Do you want a heart attack at 40?”

“I’m healthy as a horse,” he smirked. That damn smirk… I wished he would stop smirking like that. It’s distracting.

“That’s what they all say before dropping dead,” I said. ” let’s go find a table, idiot.”

“You like to insult me, but you totally like me,” he stated mockingly as we walked to a table.

“I barely tolerate you. Don’t flatter yourself,” 

We sat down at a table where nobody else had. The cafeteria was quite busy. I saw most of the cast there, as well as their coaches. I also spotted Sai, whom I had never run into before, now that I thought about it. He was like a ghost in the tent. He was sitting on his own and when he spotted us, he got up and walk towards us.

“Hello,” he greeted with a flat expression.

“Hey, buddy. What’s up?” Naruto replied. I just nodded towards him.

“I have already designed your costumes. Make sure you come see me by the middle of the week for a fitting. They’ll be almost ready by then,” Sai informed.

“Wow, so soon?” Naruto said, sounding impressed..

“Yes, Jiraiya found a decent team of seamstresses this time,” he explained. ”And we need the costumes to be ready before promotionals. You only have a few weeks left. Are you nervous?” Sai asked.

“Well, of course, buddy. Any show is a big deal, particularly premieres.” 

“What about you, Sasuke?” 

“I feel positive,” I replied.

“Well, I have to go. See you.” Sai said, while looking at his watch, and then left us alone.

“I have never seen Sai before in the cafeteria,” I said.

“He rarely eats here,” Naruto stated, “He is kind of particular. Nobody here really knows how his mind works.”

Somebody’s heavy steps interrupted us, so I turned around and saw Kiba and his huge dog walking towards us. His dog just followed him everywhere, never on a leash. He carried a tray on his hands.

“Hey you guys. I heard from Choji that Jiraiya and Asuma have called a meeting for later today and he told me to pass the voice,” he informed us and sat next to Naruto.

“What time? We have training,” Naruto told him.

“At 5 pm. Coaches have been informed.”

Kiba’s dog walked up to me and started sniffing me. I extended my hand for him to sniff before I tried to pet him.

“Whatever happened to good ol’ texting,” Naruto sighed. “I guess we have no choice.”

“Yeah, man, I know.” Kiba then looked at me. “That’s strange. Akamaru doesn’t usually like people he just met.”

“Awww he likes you, Sasuke!” Naruto chuckled, “Do you have a dog back home?”

“Not really, my parents never liked animals,” I replied.

“You don’t seem like a pet friendly person,” Kiba said, straightforwardly. He just doesn’t like me a lot but that’s fine because I don’t particularly like him either.

“I think I’m going to pay a visit to Tsunade,” I said as I stood up. “See you later.” 

“You’re going to see Granny?” Naruto raised an eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

“She seems awfully young to be called granny,” I remarked.

“Plastic surgery, dude.” Kiba rolled his eyes.

“ Oh…” 

“You didn’t answer my question, bastard,” Naruto insisted.

“Nothing serious. My muscles feel a bit overworked,” I replied.

“OK. See you at the meeting then.” 

I nodded, took my tray, and after I had put it back, walked to the door.  
\------

I knocked on Tsunade’s trailer but nobody replied. I was about to knock for a second time when she opened the door with a frown.

“Hello, Sasuke,” she greeted, “What can I do for you?”

“I have some pain on my shoulders. I was wondering if you could help me out.”

“Come in,” she ordered, “I have a patient at the moment. Do you mind waiting?”

“Not at all,” I replied as I walked inside the trailer. It was bigger than the others. I saw a familiar shag of light blonde hair on the chiropractic bed that I immediately recognized.

“Oh, hi Sasuke!” Ino exclaimed, shifting slightly.

“Ino! Don’t move!” Tsunade commanded.

“Sorry, Lady Tsunade…”

Ino was just wearing a sports bra and tiny lycra boy shorts. I realized that even though she was what most people would consider to be an attractive girl, looking at her body didn’t make me feel anything. I could see that she has an athletic body, she’s a contortionist,after all, but that still didn’t awaken any kind of arousal or any other sensation in me. I felt like I should leave the room, mostly out of respect, although she didn’t seem to mind. I decided to ask.

“Should I go out? I don’t mind waiting outside,” I said.

“Oh, no, don’t worry. I think we are almost done,” Ino said and flinched while Tsunade massaged her lower back with her elbow. “Ouch!....ouch, ouch…”

“We won’t be finished until tomorrow if you don’t stop moving,” the physician scolded.

“Everything alright with you, Sasuke?” Ino asked as Tsunade worked in decontracting her neck, “OUCH! Fuck…”

“Be quiet,” Tsunade commanded. “Take a deep breath,”

Even I could hear Ino’s body cracking.

“My shoulder hurts,” I replied although I doubted she was listening to me now. I tried to think of something else while Tsunade kept working on her, but I couldn’t. I felt like a zombie and I thought of grabbing an energy drink as soon as I get out of here. I stared at the wall and my mind went blank.

“Sasuke!” The older woman called, taking me out of my cavilations. ”Please, take your shirt off and lie down.” Then, she went to the restroom, or so I assumed, because I heard water running.

Ino was already putting on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie.

“Have you been to the cafeteria?” Ino asked.

“I was just there,” I said.

“Was Sakura there?” She asked nonchalantly.

“She wasn’t there when I left,”

“Okay. See you around.” She waved me goodbye and exited the room.

I finally bared the upper part of my body, putting my hoodie and shirt on the sofa where I had just sat. I laid down on the chiropractic bed. I have always hated them. Even though a physiotherapist isn’t really doctor, it felt so clinical, lying down in one of these beds. 

Tsunade came out of the bathroom and I heard her moving stuff around the room but I didn’t see her.

“Very well, Sasuke.” She broke the silence. “You can stay there and relax. I’m going to ask you some questions and I need you to answer honestly,”

“Alright.”

“Do you have any old injuries in the affected area? Any recent injury? Let’s say, in the past week?”

“No,” I replied sincerely.

“Perfect. I’m going to start. Let me know where you feel the most pain.’

I flinched when she put her hands on me. They were cold. When she started applying I realized she was also strong as she run her hands through my back. I felt a pinch when she touched a spot between my shoulder and my neck.

“It hurts there,” I told her.

“You have a lot of knots on your upper back and neck. How many hours a day are you training?”

“About five.” 

“Have you been sleeping alright?”

“No,” I admitted.

“Some of the pain in your shoulder is probably from training, but the pain in your neck is tensional. It occurs from lack of sleep.” she put both her hands on my neck and positioned them, so I knew what was coming. “take a deep breath,” she commanded so I inhaled deeply and in the moment I exhaled, she shook it, and I could hear it crack.

I sighed. I hated that cracking noise.

“Feeling better?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered.

“Your shoulder isn’t injured, so you don’t have to worry about that, but you will probably need to take it easy for a couple of days.”

“That’s not possible,” I replied as she started moving my right shoulder before making it crack.

“I know you can’t skip training, but you are going to have to apply hot compresses on your shoulder afterwards.” Her tone was commanding when she spoke. “I will apply kinesiotape on it as well to help with the support.”

I didn’t say anything and I just let her do her job. She had quite a lot of strength, the pressure she applied was deep and I can already guess that I will be more sore after this but that I will probably feel better in a couple of days.

“You also need to get some sleep,” she added. I snorted.

“It’s easier said than done.”

“Is something bothering you,Sasuke?” she questioned, the tone of her voice softer.

“No.” 

“Are you sure?” she insisted.

“Yes,” I lied.

“You must be under a lot of stress right now,” she said. Great, now she was trying to be my therapist.

“You could say that,” I replied,dryly. She started massaging my back, now applying less pressure. I tried to relax.

“How have you been getting along with the other cast members?”

“I speak to them now and then.”

“I see,” she said and then trailed off. “It must have been difficult to leave Orochimaru.”

“You must know. He’s your friend,”

“He’s a greedy fuck,” she laughed. “I wouldn’t call him a friend anymore, but we were. For years but that was a long time ago.”

“I would rather not talk about that.” 

“It’s fine. I understand. Can’t say I didn’t try,” she said with humor in her voice.

I stared at the floor while she kept working on my upper body and I just shut my brain down.. I wasn’t aware of how much time passed, but when I realized it, she had stopped. 

“I’m going to apply the kinesiotape now and after that, we are done,” she said and I heard her walk away.

I closed my eyes but jumped when I heard her hands on me again, and the fabric feeling of the kinesiotape.

“A bit jumpy, are you?” she commented, “You might want to lay off the caffeine. We’re done for today. Leave the tape on for a week.” 

“Alright,” I replied.

“I’m serious.I’m going to need you to come back in a week or if you feel that the pain increases on your shoulder. But your neck should be alright when you regularize your sleep pattern.”

“Thank you,” I told her as I slowly went back to a sitting position.

“You could stay and nap there for a while if you want,” Tsunade offered.

“I don’t think I could, but thank you for the offer,” I replied, even though I had reached a small degree of relaxation, it certainly wasn’t enough to fall asleep. I know some people do fall asleep as they relax during this kind of treatment but I’m not one of them. I walked to the couch and took my shirt.

After I had put my shirt back on, she scorted me out of her trailer.

“Don’t hesitate to come see me or Shizune anytime. You know, in case you need to talk,” she told me. I nodded before walking away.

I was certainly going to walk to the convenience store. I was now more than ever in need of an energy drink.  
\----------

Everybody was there when I got to the meeting, chatting animatedly with each other and that just made me feel even more exhausted. I didn’t feel better after having the energy drink, neither did I feel better after getting some fresh air when I walked to the convenience store.   
I wanted this day to be over already.

“Hey, Sasuke!” Naruto waved at me from a corner. He was sitting on the floor next to Gaara, and next to him was his weird brother. I walked in their direction and proceeded to sit down next to them quietly.

“Hello Sasuke,” Gaara greeted.

“Hey,” I greeted back.

“How was it with Granny?” Naruto asked.

“She cracked my bones,” I shrugged.

“Fine, but do you feel any better?” He rolled his eyes.

“Not really.” 

“You look tired,” Gaara added.

I just nodded. I have to admit that I still felt a bit awkward about taking his place in the act. I don’t like taking advantage of somebody else’s misfortune. I don’t dislike him though, I just didn’t know what to say to him.

Jiraiya cleared his throat and everybody turned to look in his direction. I saw a man next to him that I didn’t recognize so I assumed he must be Asuma, the marketing director.

“Good afternoon,” Jiraiya started, ”As we had agreed on our last weekly review, we were going to discuss some publicity strategies. The opening night is getting closer and unfortunately, we’re not the only worldwide known circus in town this time.” His expression turned more serious. “I am not happy to announce that, for the first time, we aren’t sold out for a premiere night even though we are so close to the opening day.”

Everybody in the room made some kind of surprise sound. That is bad. Orochimaru’s cirque is a different concept compared to the traditional circus and that must have intrigued people. They might think that Hidden Leaf is going to give a more conventional show, therefore boring.

“We still have time to sell all of our tickets but hat means that during the next few weeks we definitely need to go out there and make sure our potential audience sees us and what we have to offer,” Jiraiya added,” Asuma and I discussed some ideas but we wanted all of your opinions and ask that you also throw some ideas in the mix.” 

“As Jiraiya mentioned, we still have some time but it is imperative that we get moving soon,” Asuma said, “One of the things we have been lacking recently is activity in our social media. Our Facebook,Instagram and Youtube accounts have a considerable number of followers but we need to give them newer and more exciting content in order to gain more followers and potentially sell more tickets,”

“But Sir, we can’t give them too much information about the acts or it’ll spoil the surprise,” Lee commented.

“We won’t. In my opinion, a lot of improvisation would be good while we are out there on the streets, but I was also thinking of making some short spots about the life in the circus. Just so they get to see how you live, what you eat, how you train, how you do your makeup, how costumes are made, the musicians rehearsing...That kind of thing.”

“Do you really think people are going to be interested in that?” Chouji asked.

“For you guys, this lifestyle isn’t anything special, but you have no idea how people outside see you. You’re like fantasy creatures. A total mystery to them.”

“The making of Hidden Leaf. A peek behind the scenes,” Neji commented 

“I think it’s a good idea,” Jiraiya nodded, pleased. “We will have to schedule the filming times, but we can make it work.”

“Excellent. Another idea I had was to do photoshoots outside, visit iconic places in the city and take some photos to upload to our Instagram,” the marketing director said.

I guess my days of keeping my location a secret from Orochimaru will be over soon. I sighed. It was meant to happen anyway,might as well be sooner rather than later.

“Will the costumes be ready for that?” Tenten asked.

“We hired a bigger team of seamstresses this time, there shouldn’t be a problem with timing. We will have to schedule it, naturally, and wait for Sai to give us the thumbs up, but expect it to happen within the next week.” Jiraiya said.

“Another topic we wanted to discuss today is the press conference. Jiraiya and I have discussed it and decided to schedule it a week before the premiere,” Asuma added.

“Everybody is going to go crazy,” Naruto whispered to me.

“After next week’s review, we will choose an act to be featured in the press conference,” Jiraiya stated, serious. “I expect all of you do your best, though.”

“We don’t have any main characters in the upcoming show, so there wasn’t any rivalry about being a protagonist but still, this kind of competition gets the worse out of everybody,” Naruto whispered again.

Well, that will be fun. I rolled my eyes.I honestly don’t care about being in the spotlight during the press conference. My only concern now is about my performance in the premiere night and showing Jiraiya that it wasn’t a mistake to choose me. I wished the meeting ended soon.

“Alright, back to the public appearances.” Asuma brought my mind back to the meeting. “Does anybody have any suggestion of popular places in the city where we could reach out to a large amount of people?” 

Ino raised her hand. “Freemont street,” she suggested. “It’s very popular.”

“That’s a good idea, Ino,” Asuma seemed to type in his iPad, “I was thinking about The Strip. It would be great to walk around there, do some tricks, bring the musicians to get people’s attention. There’s a lot of hotels in that area, and the tourists are the ones usually looking for something interesting to do.”

“That’s an excellent idea!” Lee exclaimed, excited.

“We should work on scheduling those after this. After we have set the dates, we will let you all know,” Jiraiya said. “Do we have anything else that we should go through, Asuma?”

“That’s all from my part. I will make arrangements for interviews as well as for the press conference.”

Thank goodness. I couldn’t wait to get out of here and head to training because the sooner we started the sooner we’ll be finished and there’s nothing I wanted more than a hot shower and to lie down. Everybody started to stand up, so I did the same.

“Finally, man, “ Naruto exclaimed, more to himself than anybody else.

“Let’s go, idiot,” I told him.

“Sasuke,” a familiar voice called, “Can I have a word with you?” Jiraiya asked.

“Shit, bastard. What did you do now?” the blond idiot teased.

I shrugged. 

“Naruto, don’t you have training now?” Jiraiya points out.

“Fine,” he replied, taking the hint. “See you later, Sasuke.” And with that he walked away. There were still some of the cast members in the room but nobody noticed anything. Jiraiya waited patiently until most of them were out to start speaking.

“I know what you must be thinking right now,” he muttered. “I assume you might not look forward to a lot of exposure until the premiere night.”

“I knew this was a possibility and in no way would I refuse to fulfill my obligations as Gaara’s substitute, Sir.”

“Are you scared of Orochimaru, Sasuke?” he asked, bluntly.

“I don’t think so.” I felt uncomfortable.

“Because I would understand if you were. He can be a scary man,  
.” He sighed. “You know… Orochimaru,Tsunade and I…. we go way back. We used to perform together and we were a great team. But Orochimaru… he always wanted to push things further… sometimes beyond safety limits. He was greedy, you see. He always wanted more. We stopped performing together, he wanted to go another way and Tsunade quit as well for other circumstances.”

“He is greedy,” I agreed.

“I can see how you were an important asset to his show. From what I’ve seen, there’s something in you.”

“I don’t think I’m that great, sir. I think I might have been a good performer at some point, but not in my last year or so,” I confessed.

“Well, being here is definitely doing you good because from what I saw in your last performance, you’re remarkable,” he affirmed, patting me on the shoulder.

I felt embarrassed. Was it that obvious that performing with the blond moron had awakened something in me, something that I didn’t think I have anymore? I hoped he dismissed me soon.

“I just wanted to let you know that Orochimaru won’t touch you. We won’t allow that.”

“Thank you, sir-” 

“Well….I’m sorry to kept you. I presume you have training to go to.” He smiled. “Do your best.”

I nodded and then walked away. 

\------

“Sasuke? Hello?.... SASUKE?” 

A voice brought me back, abruptly. I shook my head.

“Do you have something more important to think about right now than to discuss the final changes of the finale?” Kakashi exclaimed. He seemed upset. What happened to me?

Naruto was staring at me with a weird expression.

“ What is with you today?” My coach questioned, “Are you even with us?

I remembered that we had been training for the past two hours but then we stopped and sat down to talk, but I couldn’t remember what he had been saying.

“You dozed off,” Naruto confirmed.

“Damn it,” I whispered to myself. “I’m sorry I got distracted.”

“You didn’t look distracted, you looked like you were half asleep.” Kakashi sighed. “Please, get the fuck out of here.”

“But, coach…” 

“No. Stop right there. I don’t see a point in talking when people aren’t listening,” he shut down my attempt to excuse my action, “Go sleep so this doesn’t happen again tomorrow.”

“Fine,” I said, feeling the beginning of a migraine. I got up and walked away but I felt two pairs of eyes following me before crossing the door.

I decided to skip dinner and just headed out to my room instead. Just the thought of going to the cafetería and find everybody chatting and being loud made me even more exhausted. I remember I had a snack bar in my room. I’m in a bad mood and very disappointed with myself for not giving 100% during our rehearsal today, and actually, quite embarrassed too for letting my weakness show.

I didn’t run into anybody while I waked to my room, which just confirmed my theory that probably everybody is at the cafeteria now.

As soon as I got inside my room, I went to the bathroom to start the shower. Letting it run while the water warmed up, I went outside to turn my laptop on, thinking I might watch videos on Youtube or something and maybe I would get bored enough to make me fall asleep.

I stripped off my clothes and went into the shower, allowing the hot water to wet my hair, enjoying it as it soothed my tense neck. I poured some shampoo in my hair and rubbed it in my scalp, massaging it quickly. After I had rinsed it, I just stayed underneath the shower stream for a while, until my skin was red.I didn’t want to think, so I just focused on the burning sensation of the water on my exhausted body. I certainly didn't want to have any funny thoughts about a certain idiot and I was too tired, even for that. I went out after a moment.

I dried my hair with the towel then wrapped it around my waist before going outside of the bathroom.

I rummaged through my drawer and pulled out a pair of sleeping pants and a t-shirt. After I was dressed, I brought my computer to my bed and put it on my lap I laid down. I didn’t feel like checking my Facebook account and opted instead for searching to the recommended videos on Youtube.  
I settled for a crime documentary, and I had just started playing the video when a sudden knock on my door made me jump, startled.

What the hell? The least thing I could have expected was to somebody to knock on my door at this time of day. I put my laptop aside, got up and cautiously, opened the door.

“Hey!,” he exclaimed. Naruto was standing in front of me, with his dumb smile.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, puzzled.

“ I was just wondering if you were okay. You looked terrible earlier.”

“ I’m fine,” I shrugged and simply replied, “but thanks for asking.”

“Why are you like this?” 

“I’m just tired,” I shrugged.

“I didn’t see you at the cafeteria earlier,” he stated.

“I skipped dinner. I didn’t feel like eating,”

“ You should eat properly,Sasuke, or it will affect our training”

“ I’m aware,”

“ I brought you something,” he said, and I finally noticed that he was holding a container full of a white liquid in his hand. He handed it to me.

“What is it?”

“ A protein shake, bastard. I made it with banana and some oats. I thought you will probably need it,”

Now I felt embarrassed for acting so harsh, “Thank you,” I hoped I wasn’t about to regret this, but I decided to do it anyway, “ Do you want to come in?”

His eyes went wide, “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” I moved to the side to let him in. I didn’t see the point in being so defensive when I’m trying to be friends with somebody.

He looked around my room.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. Your trailer is...nice,”

“I know it’s very plain looking,” I shrugged. He handed me the container and I took it, “I don’t know what you were expecting,”

“No, I wasn't expecting anything…” he seemed embarrassed, “what were you up to?”

“I was just watching some stuff on Youtube,” I shrugged.

“Like what?” he asked, seeming genuinely curious.

“Just... a serial killer documentary,”

“Wow, are you really into that kind of stuff?”

“It just popped up on the main page and I clicked on it, idiot, ” I went back to the bed and sat on it, with the intention of closing my laptop.

“No, wait. Let’s watch it!” he exclaimed, enthusiastic but then his demeanor changed, “I mean, if that’s okay with you…”

I just looked at him, silent, then sighed.

“Maybe I should just go. You look like a zombie, you should sleep,” he seemed suddenly bummed out. What’s with this guy?

“It’s fine. We can watch it,” I said, embarrassed I sat on the bed and put the laptop on my thighs. He sat next to me on the bed, putting his legs next to mine.

I clicked “play” on the video again and he sat quietly and looked at the screen.

“Are you going to drink that?” he said, motioning with his head to the container in my hand.

I rolled my eyes in annoyment as I uncapped the bottle and took a sip. It was actually really good. The banana made it sweet but not too much and the protein powder had a mild vanilla flavor. It was actually very tasty.

“Is it good?” he asked.

“It’s alright,” I lied. It was more than alright. I don’t know when was the last time I actually took a moment to do something nutritious for myself. He smiled and something inside me melted but I remained composed. I need to focus on the act, not on the moron and his stupid smile.

We sat and watched the video in silence.

“Remind me to never hitchhike in Australia, man...This guy is sick…” he mumbled.

“He’s in jail now, dumbass,” I muttered.

“That doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of psychos out there…”

“Hey, can I ask you something?” I asked but didn’t turn to face him, keeping my eyes on the laptop screen.

“Shoot,”

“Why did Tsunade stop performing? Jiraiya told me that they used to perform together, with Orochimaru as well…” I don’t know what drove me to ask. I’m not the type to like gossip but I suppose I was just curious.

“Oh...well...It’s kind of a sad story,” he sighed.

“How come?”

“Granny had a boyfriend, Dan...He was in the same show but he was a trapeze artist. He fell during a show one day and he died. After that, she couldn’t perform anymore. She retired from the stage and became what she is today,”

“Oh...I see,” I couldn't imagine how tough it must be, to care about somebody so much that you are unable to do what you love ever again. I’ve never been that close to anybody.

After drinking Naruto’s concoction,I somehow felt better and I didn’t realize the exact moment that I started to relax so much that I stopped paying attention to the documentary. 

My eyes felt heavy and I decided to not fight the sluggishness that was coursing through me. I felt calm and the anxiety that I had been carrying around with me seemed to vanish. My surroundings felt warm and cozy, and I gave into it. Closing my eyes, allowing myself to breathe, in and out, slowly. 

I let the blackness of the physical and emotional exhaustion engulf me. And everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks a lof for reading this chapter through the end! Feel free to message me on Tumblr!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Feedback would be very appreciated!  
> See you until next chapter!  
> (I'll try to upload weekly or bi-weekly)


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